Indianapolis Recorder, 8/6/2014 (Pamela Sexton)

2014 BDPA Career Fair

Black Technology Organization presents Fortune 100 Job Fair. The 36th annual National Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) Technology Conference will be hosting a two-day free Fortune 1000 Career Fair that is set for August 8-9, 2014, JW Marriott, 10 S. West Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204.

Companies interviewing at the BDPA Fortune 1000 Career Fair include: Accenture, BlueCross BlueShield of IL, MT, NM, OK & TX, Deloitte, Eli Lilly and Company, Fifth Third Bank, Hilton Worldwide, Johnson & Johnson, Mayo Clinic, MillerCoors, Monsanto, National Security Agency, NextEra Energy, Oracle, Prudential Financial, RYAN Consulting Group, State Farm, Travelers, University of Phoenix, US Air Force, WellPoint and Wells Fargo.

“The career fair will enable the public and conference attendees to visit with numerous public, private and government companies and agencies regarding career opportunities,” said National BDPA vice president Pamela Sexton. “Since admission to the career fair is complimentary, BDPA is able to give back to the community in terms of employment opportunities and further promote our brand through this effort.”

Read the full Indianapolis Recorder article.

Slideshare, 10/17/2013 (Gerald Smith)

Gerald Smith

Cincinnati Blacks In Technology: 'IT Certifications vs Experience vs Degrees'.  Businesses are investing in IT to help leverage existing resources more thoroughly and find hidden nuggets to put to use. For this reason, there are now more jobs in the IT field than we've seen in quite a few years. It’s that inevitable fork in the road for an IT professional. As a result, a lot of folks are starting to take another look at the IT field as a career choice. What are employers looking for? Certifications? Experience? Degrees? Some combination of the three? Which is more valuable? The answer to these questions depends upon many factors. After all, not all IT certifications or college degrees or job experiences are the same.

These are questions that will be addressed by our guest speaker, Gerald Smith. Gerald is a senior manager with Sogeti and an IT professional with a number of important certifications in program management and agile transformation. He has been a hiring manager looking over resumes and job seekers during his management career at Kroger and Luxottica Retail. Gerald is also a long-time BDPA supporter … once serving on the board as BDPA Cincinnati chapter VP-Strategy & Planning.

Here is the 27-page deck that Gerald used during his presentation:

Cincinnati Blacks In Technology: 'IT Certifications vs Experience vs Degrees' from Wayne Hicks

PR Newswire, 7/27/2012 (Monique Berry)

BDPA, the largest and oldest non-profit organization of African American professionals working in or having an interest in the computer science and information technology fields announced the launch of an information technology job board called ITDiversityCareers. Candidates with technology experience are able to register for free at ITDiversityCareers to make valuable connections with employers.

"We wanted to assist our members and all IT professionals with their job searches. Information technology is in high demand and with salaries on the rise employers are constantly looking for better ways to connect with the IT community," says Monique Berry, NBDPA president. "Our members are both diverse and some of the best in their field. By sponsoring ITDiversityCareers we are also providing a great resource to corporate recruiters."

In 2011 nearly 1/3 of all jobs were filled online. Specialty job boards like ITDiversityCareers have great appeal to recruiters as they can target a diverse workforce in specific disciplines. For candidates it allows them to view employment opportunities from employers who value their expertise and are committed to diversity.

"We want to increase the number of resources available to the IT community. BDPA has a longstanding commitment to assist everyone from the veteran career professional to the young professional in their career choices," says Berry.

Read more.

Diversity/Careers Magaine, 10/1/2011 (2011 BDPA Conference)

BDPA Career Fair: The GPS of Future Technologists.  BDPA held its thirty-third national technology conference in Chicago this past August, drawing attendees from chapters across the United States.  They were joined by a roster of top technology companies and organizations in a powerful two-day career fair.

Read the full Diversity/Careers article and enjoy over two-dozen photos from the conference.

EWF News, 5/26/2011 (Wayne Hicks)

Wayne Hicks

The Demand for CS and IT Talent Is On The Rise. Wayne Hicks, executive director of BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (College Park, MD), cautions graduates to keep in mind that lifelong learning is a reality.

"When you graduate, you are not done with the learning process," he says. "Graduates need to continue learning to remain competitive, whether that's through certifications or returning to school."

Hicks urges minorities to do their homework when job hunting. "Investigate the company's stance on diversity," he says. "Are there people that look like you represented throughout the organization, particularly in upper management and in hiring roles?"

Read the full Executive Women's Forum (EWF) News article.

Diversity/Careers Magazine, 3/1/2011 (Wayne Hicks)

BDPA Career Fair

The Job Market is Improving for African Americans in IT.  When the economy started getting pummeled a few years ago, the IT job market also took some hits, but 2010 may turn out to be its comeback year, says Wayne Hicks, executive director of the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF).  BETF is a nonprofit charity founded in 1992 to support the education and technical programs of the Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) organization.

"The number of firms that purchased booths for the BDPA career fair in July 2010 is a clear indication that corporate America is looking to hire more IT professionals at all levels," says Hicks.

Read the full Diversity/Careers Magazine article.

Diversity/Careers Magazine, 11/11/2010 (Wayne Hicks)

The Job Market is Improving for African Americans in IT. When the economy started getting pummeled a few years ago, the IT job market also took some hits, but 2010 may turn out to be its comeback year, says Wayne Hicks, executive director of the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF). BETF is a nonprofit charity founded in 1992 to support the education and technical programs of the Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) organization.

"The number of firms that purchased booths for the BDPA career fair in July 2010 is a clear indication that corporate America is looking to hire more IT professionals at all levels," says Hicks.

Read the rest of the Diversity/Careers Magazine article.

Joe's Blog, 10/11/2010 (Sally McNamara)

BDPA Philadelphia's Annual Recruiter's Roundtable. This event is free, but space is limited to 70 attendees. They are looking for college juniors and seniors in the IT profession. There will be 12 company representatives who will be sitting at round tables to provide more personal networking before and after the panel. There will be eight IT Managers/HR Recruiters on the panel who will answer my targeted questions.

See full blog post here.

Deloitte, 8/25/2010 (BDPA Chicago)

2010 Chicago Diversity Conference. Join the Deloitte Black Employee Network (BEN) and Hispanic/Latino(a) Employee Network (HNET) on September 9 for the 2010 Chicago Diversity Conference. Sponsored by the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) Chicago Chapter and BDPA Chicago Chapter, the conference seeks to connect top talent with hundreds of opportunities throughout the United States.

Read the rest of the event information here.

Philadelphia Examiner, 7/29/2010 (2010 BDPA Conference)

Info 101: Where can I find a good career fair? BDPA in Philadelphia! BDPA Philadelphia is hosting a Career Fair as part of their 32nd Annual Technology Conference at the Marriott Downtown in Philadelphia. The Career Fair dates are July 30 and July 31. Career Fair Hours are Friday, July 30th from 12pm to 6pm, and Saturday, July 31st from 10am to 3pm.

Read the rest of the Philadelphia Examiner article here.

National News, 2/26/2010 (Brenda Hogan)

Overcoming the Odds. The Cincinnati Campus Career Center sponsored the first of a bi-monthly seminar called “Just Like Me”. The seminar brings in speakers from all the fields of study at National College and allows them to speak of their diverse backgrounds, struggles, and victories that have made them successful ... Brenda Hogan, an information technology project manager at Duke Energy & past president of the Black Data Processing Associates, was the first speaker on January 22. Mrs. Hogan spoke to the students about the struggles of being a single mother and pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree, as well as being an African-American woman in corporate America. Mrs. Hogan told the students of how it took eight years to complete her bachelor’s degree and having to sometimes carry her child to the computer lab just to get work done.

Read the full Spotlight on Success article here.

SlideShare, 1/29/2009 (Pablo More)

BDPA Orlando chapter president Pablo More gave this presentation at January 2009 program meeting. He provided some tactical tips for BDPA members in central Florida that were seeking to find a job or move forward in their career within the IT industry.

Career Development and Successful Job Hunting Strategies

View more documents from Wayne Hicks.

CIO, 10/24/2007 (BDPA)

CIO Succession Planning Made Simple. Finding the new you is never easy. But when you're global CIO of a $US14 billion company, some would argue, it's a fiduciary responsibility to figure out who will succeed you when you retire. That's what June Drewry, global CIO of The Chubb Corp, says. And she's thought about succession planning almost since the day in October 2005 when she arrived at Chubb from rival Aon Corp.

Read the media story here.

Business Wire, 2/22/2002 (BDPA Dallas)

Dallas Convention Center to Host Diversity Career Fair On March 5; Top Employers, Hundreds of Professional Jobs, Multiple Industries. For several thousand professionals from all communities and leading local and national employers, opportunity comes in the form of the NAACP Diversity Career Fair which will take place from 11 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5, 2002 at the Dallas Convention Center. This event is presented by the NAACP Region VI and the Texas State Conference of NAACP Branches and is sponsored by Merck. Partnering with the NAACP Career Fair to promote workforce diversity are Asian American Professionals of Dallas, Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) -- Dallas Chapter, the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc. (NACME) and the National Society of Hispanic MBAs -- Dallas/Ft. Worth Chapter.

Read the complete media story here.

The Free Library, 1/10/2002 (BDPA Los Angeles)

Martin Luther King Day NAACP Career Fair to Feature Top L.A. Employers on Jan. 21. For several thousand professionals from all communities and more than 45 leading local and national employers, opportunity comes in the form of the NAACP. Partnering with the NAACP Career Fair to promote workforce diversity are Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) Los Angeles Chapter, Forty Plus, LULAC - California and the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME).

Read the full press release here.