Think you have what it takes to go high-tech? Then the Northern Virginia Regional Partnership wants you. Having received $2.4 million in state funds to expand technology training and employment opportunities in Northern Virginia, the partnership is preparing a series of training projects to help close the region's high-tech worker gap.

For More Information Interested in participating? A summary of the six programs, including phone numbers, should help you get started.

In this Tech Careers Q&A, David Hunn, director of the Regional Workforce Development Coordinating Center of the Northern Virginia Regional Partnership, explains who qualifies for these programs and what skills the students stand to gain.

Hunn is responsible for the coordinating center's operations and its activities with the region's educational institutions and the Northern Virginia technology industry. The partnership is a coalition of high-tech executives, local government officials, educators and civic leaders.

Q: How are you working with industry leaders to determine what skill needs local companies have?

David Hunn: The Regional Partnership immediately set out to find this data. We asked George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis to develop an IT work force survey to seek input from the region's technology businesses about the number of vacant positions they have and the skill sets that they are having difficulty recruiting. Over 2,000 IT companies in GMU's database have received the initial survey.

Over the next year, the survey will be administered on a quarterly basis, and we will release summary survey results to the public. The first quarterly survey began in mid-March 1998 and the results should be available shortly. With these survey results, the Regional Partnership will create an "IT snapshot" of the technology skills needed throughout the Northern Virginia area. We will share this survey data with course institutions throughout the region to assist educators in shaping their educational offerings to industry needs and requirements.

The Regional Partnership also issued an IT work force training solicitation in mid-February 1998. We're seeking creative and innovative IT training proposals from educational providers throughout the region. We hope to encourage the creation of industry-education coalitions, bringing together technology companies and technical training providers.

D.H.: The Coordinating Center will be an information clearinghouse with a philosophy of there being "no wrong door" for entering the region's high-tech work force. Ideally, the Coordinating Center will serve as a one-stop meeting place for individuals seeking new jobs and new skills as well as employers recruiting workers to fill vacancies.

In December 1997, the partnership provided financial support to its first technology training initiative, the Technology Retraining Internship Program (TRIP), sponsored by the Annandale Campus of the Northern Virginia Community College system. The first TRIP program module started in January 1998 with 25 adults enrolled (see The Post's feature on this program); the program lasts for six months, with the students in full-time classes for the first 12 weeks, followed by a combined classroom and on-the-job training requirement for the second 12 weeks. While not guaranteed, it is anticipated that all TRIP students who complete the six-month program will be offered full-time employment with the nine corporate technology partners.

D.H.: The Coordinating Center will offer a number of services to both tech employers and potential tech employees. At present, the Coordinating Center is funding new and innovative training proposals and curriculum development efforts to insure that the IT skills in greatest demand are offered throughout the Northern Virginia area.

The Regional Partnership has awarded funding to training programs that will be conducted in Annandale, Loudoun County, Manassas/western Prince William County, the city of Alexandria and Arlington County. While the program content is different at each location, the services include skill and job preference assessments, short-term technology training or retraining in high-demand skills, direct work experience or on-the-job internship opportunities and possible job placement/career assistance. The City of Alexandria location will combine the Alexandria Office of Employment and Training and the Virginia Employment Commission to serve as a training and job-placement office.

D.H.: Someone with both an interest and aptitude in IT activities is the type of student the Regional Partnership wishes to attract and retrain for future opportunities. There is no "typical student" who might be more successful than others. The students in the first TRIP vary in age from 25 to 67 and come from a variety of work backgrounds.

The Regional Partnership encourages interested students to contact either the Coordinating Center at (703) 834-3200 or the specific program. Potential students will undergo various aptitude and career interest assessments by the particular training provider. As the GMU survey gives us a clearer picture of the new IT work force demands and technical skill set requirements, the Regional Partnership may offer different types of training programs to meet those demands.

D.H.: This summer the partnership, in coordination with the NVCC, is running a Summer Technology Program for 400 students ages 12 to 14 to show them what tech career opportunities are open to them. The Summer Technology Program will be held at all five NVCC campuses (Annandale, Alexandria, Loudoun, Manassas and Woodbridge), with each location offering a different curriculum, combining IT and other educational disciplines.