In March 2012, Amy Adebiyi immigrated to the United States from Benin, West Africa  with aspirations of furthering her education. A few years later, Amy felt a calling to serve her adopted country and so she enlisted in the United States Army and earned permanent residency.  Once she retired from the military in June 2019, Amy completed her college education and received her bachelor’s degree in business administration. As she settled down with her family in the Chicago-land area, Amy began searching for the next step on her career path—and with the help available at National Able Network (Able) and IT Career Lab Amy knew she would quickly find success.

As Amy was working with her career coach, Luis Resendiz, the pandemic quickly made its way through the globe and severely impacted the workforce. She had a lot to consider as far as what industry would provide her and her family with stability and growth. “With the way everything has been going with the pandemic, there were a lot of openings in the IT field,” said Amy. “It was something I had never looked at or thought about, but I’m always open to new opportunities.”

She became determined to start her IT career journey! From IT Career Lab’s training programs and certifications to paid work experiences (PWE) with Able, Amy had all the tools she needed (and more!) to learn and establish her knowledge-base in her brand new career pathway.

“It’s given me motivation because I never thought I could be an IT person and now I’m in a training program and just learning so much,” explained Amy. She was one of the few students to work in the Cisco Meraki apprenticeship program!

Currently, Amy is focusing on project management within the IT field, making use of her prior business administration knowledge and her training while perfecting her skills in National Able Network’s IT Department. For those like Amy, who are searching for a way to enter IT, this is her advice: “Be open to new opportunities. An IT career will always be something that can help you and will open so many doors for you no matter what job you take.”