Equipping veterans with skills to pursue careers in data

During her last year as an active duty Sailor, Katherine (Katie) Earls knew she needed to figure out what career path she wanted to take. Still, she had no idea what opportunities existed outside the Navy, and whether she was qualified for any roles that interested her.

Katie only knew two things for certain: she did not want to be an electrician anymore, and she wanted to work in tech. She struggled with how to translate the work she did as an electrician in the Navy into marketable skills that she could bring to a new role in the tech industry.

At FourBlock, we are committed to shaping the future of veteran transition and career readiness by inspiring veterans to achieve more after their military service. When Katie completed FourBlock’s Career Readiness Program in the Fall of 2018, she was able to expand her professional network, get valuable career advice, and gain the confidence and skills needed to pursue a career in the civilian sector successfully. Now, she is a proposal manager at one of the top technology corporations in the world.

Our community brings together top companies and high-potential veterans to foster a better understanding of veterans among our nation’s leading employers and ensure returning veterans have the tools and resources they need to begin new and meaningful careers.

Our vision is a nation-wide community that all transitioning service members can connect with wherever they are—through a digital app, a phone call, a podcast show, live-streamed events, or by participating in a dedicated cohort. They will have the information, opportunities, and relationships needed to make better career decisions, reach their potential, and better serve their communities.

Over 2,000 veterans are now members of the FourBlock alumni community, working at more than 400 different companies across the United States. Together with our corporate, university, and veteran services organization partners, we are improving the military transition process:

• 94% of our alumni feel FourBlock improved their transition from military to corporate life.
• 80% say FourBlock inspired them to pursue more challenging careers.
• 87% say new career paths opened up as a result of participating in our Career Readiness Program.

As our community of veteran professionals increases, the need to foster new pathways to meaningful careers grows with it. To address this, we are thrilled to announce a formal partnership with Tableau that will provide our community members with access to Tableau software and training opportunities that align with our veterans’ interest and the high demand for careers in data fields.

United by a shared passion for serving the communities we live in and helping to drive change through action, Tableau and FourBlock first collaborated in July 2019 to educate transitioning veterans on the Tableau platform through webinar meetings and an in-person event in the Washington, D.C. Metro Area. The collaboration helped inform transitioning veterans on the Tableau platform, explain how they can better see and understand data, and expose them to the impact a Tableau certification and knowledge base can have on their future careers.

With the creation of a formal partnership, we can expand upon our initial collaboration and help more members of our veteran professional community. Tableau will provide up to 500 transitioning veterans with Tableau Creator licenses, e-learning credits, and both in-person and online instructor-led training opportunities at no cost—ensuring they are equipped to enter the next chapter of their careers.

The software grant includes Tableau Creator on-premise licenses for a one-year term and Tableau Desktop I training vouchers. These resources will enable our transitioning veterans and alumni to deepen their knowledge of Tableau and fine-tune their skills on the platform, empowering them to turn data into insights and make data-driven decisions with confidence.

With an enhanced capability to see and understand data, our veteran professionals will possess a highly marketable skill that will elevate their resumes and aid in launching their careers in big data, finance, and other data-driven sectors. Access to Tableau’s tools and training will help empower our veterans to pursue careers that fit their calling.

As we continue to work together to shape the future for a new generation of veterans, we are collaborating to bring a Tableau Desktop specialist training to the D.C. Metro Area by January of 2020. Our vision is to expand our reach to areas where Tableau and FourBlock have a presence, which includes Seattle, Boston, and Austin. We look forward to the positive impact this partnership will have on the future careers of our transitioning veterans.

Are you a transitioning veteran and interested in pursuing a career path in data? Email info@fourblock.org to learn more about how you can apply to FourBlock’s Career Readiness Program as well as our Tableau training opportunities.