The Good “R” Word in IT: Resourcefulness

Most of my blogs lately have updated you on new courses we have in the works. So today, I figured I would change things up and start this blog with a story: Nearly 20 years ago, when I was still in my rookie year in my Information Technology career, I was sent on a business trip far, far away from my home base (well, not that far, but a plane and a time zone change was involved so, far enough).

I was there to do some software installations and software support, as was my role in this company. When I arrived, I was handed my to-do list for the day. The first half of the list looked fine. The second half of the list was all Windows Server tasks. One problem: I barely knew Windows Server existed much less have the ability to actually do anything with it. And being several hundred miles from home, I couldn’t just say “not my thing” and walk away. And they did not have an IT person on staff.

So what was I to do? Back then, I couldn’t just whip out my smartphone or tablet and start looking for how-tos or solutions online. And I knew that making a wrong move on Windows Server could take down the server. So I did not want to make any mistakes there.

That very day was the day I discovered a very important word in the IT business: Resourcefulness! I immediately thought “what resources do I HAVE”, not “what do I not have”. My resource: the lead network and server administrator back at the home office. I called him up, explained the situation, and after he laughed about sending a rookie to do a non-rookie’s job, he spent, off and on, two hours on the phone with me, walking me through, step-by-step, what to watch for and what to do. As a result, I got through almost every item on that list that day before I had to catch my plane home.

Continuing this, over my first year at this company, I made it a point to never say “I can’t do this.” I always tried to be as resourceful as I could be to tackle user problems and new challenges. This got me a new position and a substantial raise just one year into the job.

Now, what I have shared with you is just one of many examples where I have had to stop, think about how I could be resourceful when trying to solve a problem, and then use whatever resources I have. 18 years ago, it was a phone. Now, it’s a smartphone or tablet and a lot of searching and testing (and, yes, the occasional human contact, too).

No matter how new or not-so-new you are as an IT professional, every situation where you don’t know the solution right away gives you two choices: To be resourceful, or not to be resourceful. Are you the one who is willing to find a solution (and of course, verify before implementing it if you can), or, the one who says “no can do” or worse, you try something and make the problem worse?

There is no reason to not be resourceful nowadays. You have search engines, tutorials on YouTube, LearnKey courses, white papers, forums, and a whole host of other avenues to use. And, one of the best ways to be resourceful is to befriend those who are experienced in your field of work. Figure out who is willing to share knowledge and make those people your best “work” friends.

If there is one thing I can say from experience and observation in my almost-20 years of being in the IT industry, it’s this: Those who demonstrate resourcefulness move up the ladder from position to position and salary scale to salary scale. Those who aren’t either stay where they are, or they find themselves looking elsewhere for work.

So, no matter where you are in your IT career, remember the “R” word: Resourcefulness!

Making the experience fun producing IC3 Spark Certification Training!

Who says you can’t have fun producing certification courses! At LearnKey we take great pride ensuring our courses map to objectives, cover what is in the certification exam, and that our students gain the knowledge they need to succeed. Producing and publishing content is taken very seriously as our goal is to provide our students with the ultimate learning experience.

That said, our learning and development team was thrilled to start producing this week (June 13th 2016) the IC3 Spark training for middle school age children, which maps to the Certiport Exam. This course will provide them with a solid foundation in digital concepts that covers objectives spanning basic computing skills, key applications, and the use of the Internet. Our partner Certiport announced the release of this exam last year and we are excited to be producing this in video, along with workbooks, projects, and assessments so teachers have all the resources they need.

Best of all our production team can really leverage their creative skills so this younger student demographic finds the course easy to understand, engaging, and helps them improve their computer skills! This program will be offered exclusively through our Certiport & GMetrix partnership making it the best of the best when it comes to training, access to GMetrix practice tests, and certification. Be on the lookout for this program to be released in late July, just in time for the 2016 fall school year!

Leaders Making Contributions That Make a Difference!

Leadership sometimes requires people to get out of their comfort zones and when you ask them to do that, it’s really sometimes asking them to take a leap of faith. They have to trust you, they have to take on additional responsibilities, they have to look past the short-term benefits and make sacrifices for the good of the company and believe in the long-term value. Just over a year ago, I asked two people in our Better Learning Systems/LearnKey organization to take that leap of faith with me to believe in something that had never been done and to trust the people and process we were about to embrace, and I can honestly say that the successful partnership LearnKey has recently solidified with GMetrix and Certiport it has allot to do with key contributions from Kim Johnson and Wyett Ihler.

So it gives me great pleasure to announce that both Kim and Wyett are the recipients of our 2016 Key Contributor award voted by their peers! They have truly displayed our core values Ease, Value and Trust throughout this entire project that has required 100% of their efforts for the past twelve (12) months.

In addition to their day-to-day responsibilities, both of them have worked together in tandem to not only successfully roll out our new product, but do it in a way that is good for the company. The work required migrating our certification courseware through an entire reformatting process, quality control testing, sales re-training, and learning a new delivery system. They did it with passion and a “can-do attitude.” They had a lot of help from other LearnKey team members and that required getting those team members to buy into the same leap of faith, that this partnership is going to benefit students, teachers, and learners through providing the ultimate learning experience.

Congratulations to both of them for their commitment to our core values!

LearnKey Announces First Key Contributor Award

At LearnKey, the 2016 year is starting off great as we get to recognize one of our people who lives and breathes our core values of Ease, Value and Trust. It gives me great pleasure to announce that Jason Manibog is the first recipient of LearnKey’s Key Contributor award!

Jason joined LearnKey last June as our Senior IT Instructor and has not only improved the quality of our courses but won over all of our production team members with his “can do” attitude, willingness to help anyone out, and, most of all, working endlessly to improve the learning experience for our students and teachers. At LearnKey, we have been fortunate to keep our core employees; therefore, when someone comes on board they are always welcomed with open arms and set up for success. Jason was so impressed by that he went the extra mile to “seek first to understand, before trying to be understood.” This was most impressive when he traveled to meet each team and member (i.e. in Sales, QC, Writing, and the Design teams) in St. George and Cedar City, UT, to make sure he learned existing processes and then presented ways to improve them that reduced a lot of re-work and down time. Marian Eckley, our Video Production Manager, had this to say about Jason: “a tireless worker, he always gives 110%. The guy is a work horse and will never say no to anyone when they ask for help. Jason always outputs more work than asked for.”

Once again let me congratulate Jason on being our first recipient of this award. We promise to keep him really busy as we have a full plate of courses to be released this year that started with MTA Mobility and Device Fundamentals in January. Now we are focused on A+ 220-901 and 902 exam courses, with Adobe CC soon to follow.

Here’s to a great start for 2016!

Sincerely,

Jeff Coruccini

Thanksgiving 2015

Happy Thanksgiving from LearnKey

Thanksgiving is upon us in the United States, and that means it’s that time of the year for “holiday hours.” We wanted to update everyone on LearnKey’s hours for the week:

Thursday 11/26 – Friday 11/27

LearnKey offices are closed for the Thanksgiving holiday

After that, LearnKey offices return to normal business hours: offices are closed Saturday 11/28 and Sunday 11/29, and re-open on Monday 11/30 (Sales and Client Services: 8am – 5pm MST, Tech Support: 7am – 6pm MST)

We wish everyone celebrating a happy Thanksgiving, and hope everyone has plenty to be thankful for!

Newest EOM Epitomizes “Vets helping Vets”

One Better Learning Systems/LearnKey program we are very proud of is our Blue Ocean IT & Career Ready program for military veterans. It is a true “education to employment echo system” built around veterans helping veterans.

This means veteran students get tutored and supported by other veteran students who have graduated the program and are hired by LearnKey.

This month it gives me great pleasure to announce that Tristan Roberts has been nominated and selected by his leadership as our newest employee of the month for his efforts both as a team player and individual contributor!

As our first graduate of the Blue Ocean program he joined our team last August in a new role as a LearnKey technical support/tutor. During this time we have watched him embrace our core values: Ease, Value, and Trust, with the number one priority of helping our veteran students get certified and career ready. Most recently he has taken on the role of mentor for two new graduating students who are now part of his team and he has done it with passion and commitment, scheduling their work across our quality control, client services, veteran services, and technical support teams to ensure we make better courses and provide better support to our veteran students!

He has also been instrumental in rolling out other support services (i.e. Tutor Tuesdays, user forums, etc.) this past year, again all driven around driving a better learning experience for our students.

Tristan is an amazing father too, and by reading some fun facts through a short Q&A below you should not be surprised by who his influence is outside of work:

How many siblings do you have? Two (2) Brothers, (Jovi, Jimmy) one (1) Sister (Malieka)
What is your favorite movie? Always the last movie I saw with my daughter (Inside Out)
What is your favorite band? New Chum’s (Seth’s Band)
What is your favorite vacation spot? I’ll let you know when I take a vacation
What was your high school’s mascot? Colt
What is the weirdest combination of foods you have eaten? MREs (not enough room to explain)
What is/was the name of your favorite pet? My daughter’s fish is named Blue (Betta)
What was your first car? 87 Honda Accord (Hatchback)
If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be? Jamaica/Australia
Would you rather sky dive, bungee jump, zip line, or parasail? Parasail
What is the funniest saying you have heard working here? I heard someone came to the Halloween party dressed as a RUBBERtree. (Hilarious)

We are very proud to have Tristan as part of our team and truly value the contributions he makes every day. His passion for helping others is second to none!

Newest EOM “rolls up her sleeves by writing away”

It is summer time, school is out, and the entire BLS/LearnKey family is totally focused on a successful second half of the year. One of our big productions at LearnKey this summer is a feature course on Internet and Computer Core Certification (IC3) GS5 that is an anchor learning program throughout our vocational and K-12 customers.

Because teamwork is the only way for us to achieve success in such a production it gives me great pleasure to recognize someone who has truly displayed TEAMWORK the entire way: Ms. Brittni Traynor from our Cedar City office!

This is what her nominating peer had to say about her “can do” attitude when it comes to her contributions: “Brittni Traynor exemplifies BLS/LearnKey’s core values of Ease, Value, and Trust. LearnKey’s production team has been feverishly working as we prepare our upcoming IC3 GS5 training and Brittni’s role as the lead writer has given her ample opportunity to demonstrate her dedication to the project and her team.

You can trust Brittni—during a recent conversation with a co-worker who expressed concern about making sure we were going to meet our writing deadline, she simply responded to him by saying ‘Of course we will, we’ll find a way and make it happen.’ And she did.”

We wanted to share not only Brittni’s success but also some recent Q&A with her about life outside of work:

Where were you born? I was born in Rexburg, Idaho. We didn’t live there very long, I claim Portland, Oregon as my home base, it is where I grew up and where my family still is.
What is your favorite type of Friday night? If I am not working, I usually spend my Friday nights with my two of my close friends. We usually go to the movies, or dinner, or sometimes go see bands play. It is really nice to kick back with some good friends and just spend some time detoxing from the busy week.
How did you find your way to BLS/LearnKey? I had a friend who had recently started as a Technical Writer; when there was an opening in the Quality Control department, I applied and got the job.
What is it that you like most about your job and why? The people hands down. We have such an amazing and talented group of people here in the Cedar office. I wish I possessed half the talent of the Designers, Writers, and Quality Control teams. We had an office lunch the other day and we were all chatting about some random things, and at one point I thought about what a diverse and amazing group of people we have working in this company. Everyone is seriously so very talented. It’s awesome.
Who at LearnKey taught you something, where after learning it you went “they are smart”? I really believe that I learn something from someone every day in this company. But, the person who I am constantly learning from is Wyett. From day one, he has pushed me to think differently and to look for the details other people may not notice.
Give us a dream vacation spot you want to visit one day? I would really love to go to Nepal with my BFF Jill. She went there a few years ago to volunteer with the Butterfly Home Project. I love hearing all of her stories and would absolutely love the opportunity to go and volunteer there.
What is your ideal dream job? Well, I am not totally sure what my ideal dream job would be. One of my biggest passions is helping other people find their potential and helping them to grow and become the best, most authentic version of themselves. Ideally, my dream job would allow me to incorporate that passion with whatever it is I am doing.
The boss is coming for dinner and wants you to cook the meal. What will you cook? I absolutely love to cook. My dad is a chef, so I was constantly interested in it as a child. If it were only Jeff coming for dinner, I would probably make some sort of pizza, because I know it is one of his favorite things to eat when he is traveling without Lori. If it were Jeff and Lori though, I would probably make Pollo en Mole. Because it is one of my favorite things to make.
If you could gift someone $100,000 who would it be and why? This is hard for me, because there are many charities that I adore. I would probably choose to donate some to the Trevor Project, which focuses on suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQ youth: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/, as well as to the Butterfly Home Project. The Butterfly Home is a center in Nepal dedicated to the children of imprisoned women. In Nepal, if a mother goes to prison, and no one can take her children, the child is also imprisoned and the conditions are terrible. I have been able to learn about it through my dearest friend Jill, who volunteered there a few years ago. It is such an amazing organization: https://ecdcnepal.org/newportal/about-us/

We really enjoy sharing these wonderful employees we have at Better Learning Systems and hope you will continue to check back and learn about other successes team members are having as we take our BLS Journey.

Kind Regards,
Jeff Coruccini, CEO

Team Players Earn Dual Employee of the Month Honors!

Greetings:

2015 halfway point is almost here and I am pleased to announce that we have two Employee of the Month recipients for June. So join me in congratulating Sheena Chamberlain and Chip Ehlers as these two continue to dish up exceptional service and support to their co-workers.

Two common threads in reading their nominations: one, they are dedicated long tenured good standing employee’s, and two, they have a “can do” attitude when it comes to doing their jobs. Additionally, each of them are all about helping other people. In Sheena’s nomination she was noted for being our “database expert,” one who is always looking for ways to improve process and maintain an efficient operation. Chip’s nomination was about how great of a “team player” he is and can be counted on to always help anyone out in student support or packaging & distribution.

This month we will split the Q&A session so you get a little personal insight to them both:

Chip: Who is your best friend and why? My wife, We have known each other a long time. Even before we were married, we were the best of friends

Sheena: Name your husband’s favorite restaurant? Ninja – he could eat sushi every day of the week, for every meal!

Chip: What is your ideal dream job in the next five (5) years? If not at LearnKey, I would love to be a golf pro or professional basketball player.

Sheena: What is it that you like most about your job and why? I am an extrovert so it should come as no surprise…The people. I love the people I work with. There is so much respect for every employee and what they do for our company.

Chip: IF you won a million dollars, name a cause or not-for-profit you would donate a portion of that to? Cancer Research and World Hunger.

Sheena: Name your favorite meal to cook? I LOVE to cook! My favorite meals to cook are my own made up “copy cats” of some of my favorite restaurant meals. I cook everything from scratch, and challenge myself to have the end product taste even better than it does in a restaurant.

Chip: Name your favorite meal to cook? Anything barbecued!

Sheena: Who at LearnKey have you learned the most from? It’s impossible to name just one person, as I think there is something to be gained from each person here. Melanie has taught me so much about our behavior, and how to best communicate with each of my team members based on their behavior and “how they tick”. Kim continually teaches me that being a great leader means that you always have the good work your team does on your mind, and to make their accomplishments known.

Chip: What is it that you like most about your job and why? I love working with great people and adding to the success of LearnKey.

Again, let me thank you both on behalf of the entire Better Learning Systems Leadership Team for your contributions and team work. We truly are a better place to work because we have people like you on our team!

Kind Regards,

Jeff Coruccini

CEO

Newest Employee of the Month Helps out wherever she can!

After just over six (6) months on the job our newest employee of the month has taken a “can do” attitude along with a great “team first” mentality.

That is why it gives me great pleasure to introduce Jenna Welch as this month’s Better Learning Systems/LearnKey employee of the month! Not only has she learned various roles on the LearnKey Veteran Services team she is also cross-trained in areas of our client services and accounting support groups as well. This just further demonstrates her ability to be flexible and take on projects that are not only in her area of expertise but outside her responsibility. A true utility player on our team!

Check out what her nominating manager had to say about Jenna’s performance to date “Jenna Welch has shown us that she can adapt and change to what is needed to complete a project or task. She is extremely easy to work with and has already achieved Word & Excel 2013 Microsoft Certification. I trust that when I ask her to take on a task or project that she will complete it on time if not sooner. Jenna has proven to be a valued team player and we look forward to what we can accomplish with her as a part of the LearnKey family”.

Take a minute to get to know Jenna on the personal side with this fun Q & A:

How many siblings do you have? 11 altogether (2 brothers, 2 sisters, 2 sisters-in-law, and 5 brothers-in-law)
What is your favorite movie? Star Wars!
What is your favorite band? No longer together would have to be Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Three, or the original E Street Band (RIP, Clarence Clemons). Currently together…it’s a toss-up between Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls, The Gaslight Anthem, The Menzingers, Against Me!, and Alkaline Trio. Please don’t make me pick just one!
What is your favorite vacation spot? I love the mountains, but my most memorable vacation was in Tokyo
What was your high school’s mascot? Panthers
What is the weirdest combination of foods you have eaten? Brownies and garlic cheese spread (delicious, by the way)
What is/was the name of your favorite pet? My family had two tomcats named Thomas and O’Malley
What was your first car? ’98 Dodge Intrepid (not recommended without a bottomless maintenance budget)
If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be? India
Would you rather sky dive, bungee jump, zip line, or parasail? Definitely zip line
What is the funniest saying you have heard working here? Any/every time someone besides Brian says “Are we done here?”
If you could eat dinner with anyone from the past, present, or future, who would it be and why? My grandpa passed away last summer so I would love to have one more conversation with him.

While I agree that Jenna tells the truth not sure I am ready to try Brownies and garlic cheese spread just yet!

Please join me in congratulating Jenna on this award as we are delighted to have her as part of our Better Learning Systems family.

Regards,

Jeff

Newest EOM is no stranger to this award!

Back in October 2013 our employee of the month was recognized for his excellent commitment to quality control and going above and beyond to help us improve our A+ course. Fast forward a year and a half later and we are recognizing him again for doing great work all the time and keeping our core values front and center while he does it.

It gives me great pleasure to congratulate Ben Lee on being selected as our April 2015 employee of the month. In addition to this award he was also promoted to a Senior IT position within LearnKey at the end of last year and is becoming an outstanding overall team member with the same positive “can do attitude”.

I know first hand what a great problem solver he is i.e. and getting him involved with other parts of the business is something that will be great for his career. That said, here is what his manager had to say during the nomination process:

“Before Ben joined the Tech Support team I knew of his ability to research and present information with aplomb. He glides through such requests with Ease. Since joining our team his Value has been truly measurable in the impact he has had in raising our collective knowledge and skills. I can Trust him to dig in with a vengeance and deliver great results, such as with preparing us to move our Tech Support knowledge base to a new vehicle in the near future. Ben is like a human vending machine that never fails. You put in your money and he dispenses promptly, and it is always more satisfying than you expected.”

He is such a great person please take a moment to get to know Ben on the personal side through this fun Q&A:

How many children do you have? One baby girl who will be here in June or July.
Who is your best friend and why? My wife is my best friend. She is the person I spend my alone time with. We can discuss anything with each other, and we both love exploring new things together.
Name your wife’s favorite restaurant. It changes from day to day—and with pregnancy status—but she is a big fan of independent diners that provide excellent customer service and high-quality food, like Milt’s Stage Stop, The Little Brick House, and The Pastry Pub.
What is it that you like most about your job and why? I love synthesizing raw data into a format that accomplishes a task or helps other people.
From whom at LearnKey have you learned the most? Whomever I am working closely with. I have learned a lot about time management and priorities from Bart. Val has helped me learn more about calm, effective communication. Sheena has taught me about the importance of procedure. Brian has been a great friend who has helped me understand my own talents and interests better. Kevin is teaching me about self-motivation and drive. Jeff and Lori have taught me a ton about kindness and generosity. I can’t say who has taught me the most, but I can say that I have learned something from everybody at LearnKey.
Name a place you want to take your wife for vacation. I would love to take my wife to Germany for a month in autumn or winter.
What is your ideal dream job in the next five (5) years? My ideal job would entail helping other people gain literacy in language and music.
Name your favorite meal to cook. There are several meals that I enjoy cooking: 蛋饼(Chinese crepes), steamed Chinese food, Yorkshire pudding pancakes (British crepes), and Tomato soup with grilled ham and cheese sandwiches.
If you won a million dollars, name a cause or not for profit you would donate a portion of that to? I would donate money to local small business start-ups that could help make quality education available to both adults and children.

Again, please join me in congratulating Ben on this recent accomplishment and if you know him it’s a pretty good bet in the future we will be saying “third time is a charm!”

Kind Regards,

Jeff Coruccini