Winter Training Leads to Jobs!

On December 18th, just one business day after the Rising Sun and GRID Alternatives’ Solar PV Essentials job fair we get notified that 3 participants were aready hired. It’s not so much a surprise, but it’s still certainly exciting and rewarding. Before this hire and before the job fair, the cohort participated in 2 weeks of solar training both in the classroom and in the field. GRID Alternatives and Rising Sun have been partnering to provide trainings like these for almost 5 years now. It’s evolved over the years to include classroom training on soft skills, solar technology and career pathways as well as real-world field training completing several GRID Alternatives solar installations from start to finish.

The participants of these trainings come from all different types of backgrounds with all different levels of experience. One participant reflected that “the training helped me to start a skill that I was looking for for a longtime. I come from a background where women are not allowed to do certain jobs. This helped me to believe in me.” Many of the participants noted that beyond the hard skills, the experience helped them gain confidence in themselves. The opportunity proves to the participants that they can do it because at the end of the day, they walk away with a fully installed solar system. It’s hard to deny something as concrete as that.

We’re looking forward to continuing to hear where the participants paths take them. We’re also looking forward to a full month of training partnering with Rising Sun starting in late April. Email trainingba@gridalternatives.org if you’d like to be connected with more information on the April training.

Check out photos from the training here