The oil and gas industry has certainly been creative in its times of new-hire desperation. Programs abound to entice returning military personnel or unemployed auto workers to learn new skills and buoy the sagging payrolls of desperate energy companies.

But there is another resource out there as well, one that a program called i.c.stars in Chicago has tapped to supplement the needs of IT companies. With a little tweaking, it could very well be adapted to training for energy careers.

i.c.stars students are given the opportunity to work together on teams for real-life clients. (Photos courtesy of i.c.stars)

i.c.stars

“You want to hear the story? It’s a good one,” said Sandee Kastrul, president and co-founder of i.c.stars. Kastrul had the idea after 15 years of teaching chemistry to young adults. On the first day of class, she had her students become “elements.” Solids were confined to their seats, liquids had a bit more mobility, and gases could come and go as they pleased.

“The solids would say, ‘That’s not fair!’” she said. “I told them they had to change their state of matter.

“Just like class mobility, it’s about changing our state of matter or our state of mind.”

One of her former students returned to tell her that he was “working with chemicals.” He was actually working in cleaning services at one of the hotels in downtown Chicago.

“He said, ‘You’d be surprised what people don’t know about the basic properties of ammonia,’” she said. “He was being exploited because he was undocumented, and I was horrified. He could see it in my face.”

The student’s reaction, however, took her by surprise. “He said, ‘Sandee, I don’t think you’re listening to me. You have always taught us that leadership is making opportunities for others. It doesn’t matter whether I’m in a lab coat or a lecture hall. I’m teaching.’

“That was the moment I decided to start a program for people like him.”

The timing was right for an IT venture because the inspiration hit during the dot.com era of the late 1990s. “There was a shortage of technology workers in ’99, and dot.coms were starting up everywhere,” she said. “I could pitch it to young people because, as programmers or coders, they literally got to write the rules.” Additionally, she structured the program to teach resiliency, problem-solving, critical thinking, empathy, communication – “and straight-up chutzpah.”

The program was launched in 2000, and Kastrul said the technology community quickly got on board and “resonated with the intensity of the program.”

“We built a strong network of technology executives in companies that supported not just the mission and the vision of i.c.stars but also saw us as a great source of talent,” she said.

The program

i.c.stars is not a secret in the Chicago area. Every year about 400 applicants vie for just 15 positions. Each applicant must be 18 and have a high school diploma or GED as well as six months of work experience. Applicants go through a battery of tests for aptitude, but Kastrul said that attitude is equally as important. Panel interviews check for “resilience” – everything from strategies for overcoming hardship to storytelling to a sense of humor.

Once selected, students begin an internship. The first week is spent in “team week,” focusing on communications, team building, trust, cross-cultural communication, etc. At the end of the week the 15 students are divided into three groups. “It’s kind of like ‘The Apprentice,’” Kastrul said. That evening their “client” sends them a request for proposal, typically a technology solution the client would send to one of its vendors.

“It only goes to the project managers,” she said. “After a week of learning about yourself and each other, the last thing you’re doing Friday night is checking e-mails.”

The outcome is predictable. One project manager will get his or her team together over the weekend, another finds the e-mail but doesn’t know what to do about it, and the third is very surprised the following Monday morning.

“And so the game is on,” Kastrul said.

The project lasts three weeks, during which students encounter real-life corporate situations like the constant struggle between the business users and the technology gurus. Meanwhile companies like Gartner, an information technology research and advisory company, come in and teach such things as its concept of the “magic quadrant.”

“If we taught all of this the first week, it wouldn’t sink in, but by now they really need this information,” she said.

The second project includes venture capital clients. The students have four weeks to develop a profitable e-commerce business. “It’s a fascinating process because it shifts from service to profitability,” Kastrul said. “By the end they have to show operating results; they have to learn how to build a website; and they also learn financial modeling, search engine optimization, social media, and how to build strategic partnerships.” Not all of these businesses become commercial, she added, but the customers do exist.

The third project shifts gears again to focus on providing IT solutions for a non-profit organization. “It’s a small shop with not a lot of money but a real passion for change,” she said.

During this time career services are offered as well. Students then move onto a “residency,” where they are hired as social media and web developers for i.c.stars’ social enterprise. The organization takes on clients, and the students do paid work for them.

The final year is the fellowship, in which the students work either for i.c.stars or one of its corporate partners. By the end of the program students will have earned an associate’s degree from one of the city colleges along with a portfolio of experience and solid relationships in the business community. “This makes them incredibly employable on the market,” Kastrul said.

So far 195 students have completed the program with a 95% placement rate and an average earning increase of 185%, she added.

Students interact with industry executives as they complete the two-year program.

Taking it to the next level

While i.c.stars currently doesn’t offer programs specific to the energy industry, it has garnered tremendous interest in its 11-year history. Kastrul said that the country of Rwanda has sent visitors to scope out the program, and the hope is to create a scalable model that can ultimately be replicated in other cities.

Businesses in Chicago couldn’t be happier with the program. Jim Goodmiller is executive director of IT consulting and staffing for the Midwest region of DISYS, a company that offers IT staffing and consulting. Goodmiller learned about i.c.stars in 2010 from a CIO colleague who sits on the board.

“He asked us to take a look at the program,” Goodmiller said. “What we saw was one of the best examples of what I would call a ‘win-win’ situation. It’s not a charity or a hand-out. It takes people who are an untapped resource; trains them and holds them accountable to their own learning, growth, and development; and helps them get real-world experience through internships that eventually turn into full-time opportunities.”

For companies like DISYS, the benefits go beyond finding a skilled workforce. Goodmiller said the connection helps his company get in front of the right people at potential client companies. “It’s very difficult to get in front of senior executives at major companies today,” he said. “We’ve created a venue to do this by sponsoring this program.”

Overall, the program has the key components to overcome many of the issues associated with training and retention of employees. “There’s such a need for reform in how we train workers and access talent,” Kastrul said. “We have some really unique ways of looking at training that we’d love to share with other industries.”

For more information, visit www.icstars.org.