Hindsight is 20/20 for many adults who may spend the first few years (or more) after high school hopping from major to major, or job to job, because they didn’t have a chance to explore what path was right for them earlier in life. But, thanks…
When students have questions, Jennifer Merrill has answers. As the student services manager at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA Workforce Development), Jennifer and her staff of Student Support Specialists help students narrow down broad career goals into attainable steps toward a FastForward credential. Whether students need…
Changing careers can seem intimidating. For so many people, routine and predictability is comfortable, and it’s nice to stay in the comfort zone! On the other hand, change can be unfamiliar and uncomfortable. When changing careers, more times than not, that feeling is temporary, and the…
Sometimes, all it takes is having a positive attitude, working hard and connecting with a good leader to help you accomplish your goals. While higher education can be intimidating, career coaches from community colleges across Virginia shared their best advice for getting started back at school….
It’s hard to believe that another summer has come to an end, but here we are right on the edge of a new semester. With change often comes nerves. But there’s no reason to feel worried. We spoke with some of our career coaches about how…
To our employers out there, you know better than us that a lot of employee learning takes place on the job, getting their hands dirty and seeing how things are done. As a business owner, you might want to fast forward an employee right to the…
A FastForward credential from your local community college is an easy way to become a more competitive job applicant. FastForward programs are short-term workforce trainings, so you can be in and out in weeks – trained and ready to jump right into the job search process….
As 2021 comes to an end, and the FastForward team reflects on the last 12 months, there is one word that comes to mind to recap the year: resilience. Year two during a pandemic called for continued change and we’re proud of our instructors, career coaches…
FastForward programs are designed to be flexible so that students can work and take courses at the same time while balancing family and personal life. A 2020 survey found that FastForward graduates not only saw an average increase of $8,000 in wages, but also reported having a better overall work-life balance. We recently conducted our…
After a long year of pivots, virtual learning and extra precautions, things are slowly and cautiously starting to return to normal, or at least a new normal. The same goes for FastForward’s workforce training at community colleges across Virginia. We chatted with some of our career…