Planting seeds for the future
Grow with Google provides a new entryway into the job market
The situation
Brittany Hoover wanted a career change. An adjunct professor teaching at the high school and college levels, she wanted to expand her skills and explore UX design—a growing area with plenty of opportunity. However, to break into the field she’d need training and a portfolio. To get both meant becoming a student again. But the cost put that path out of reach.
Grow with Google is the catalyst that would change Hoover’s life. Launched in 2017, the program offers low-cost certificate training for people, an alternative to a traditional two-year or four-year university degree. By providing the tools, training, and resources, learners—largely from underrepresented backgrounds—suddenly can step into a career path that will make them in demand by some of the nation’s top employers.
While developing the program, Google realized it needed help in developing the courses to make sure they offered the precise skills employers needed. In the era of digital transformation, where innovation moves at lightning speed, the knowledge gap is constantly widening, which meant Google needed experts to give their curriculum not just integrity but relevance. That’s why the company turned to Deloitte for help.
Since 2017, five million people have received digital skills training
The solve
As Google created three new Career Certificate Programs—Program Management, UX/UI Design, and Data Analyst—it turned to Deloitte to provide subject-matter expertise in these fields to flesh out the programs and make sure they followed best practices and provided the correct skills and tools training employers would want.
Google signed up 130 companies in its program pipeline
Starting in March 2021, Deloitte identified internal subject-matter specialists covering the new certifications and introduced them to Google’s program managers and course creators. With multiple subject-matter specialists assigned to each course, they reviewed course outlines and helped tailor and tweak the syllabuses. Their core role was to review the course curriculum and highlight required course content that would make each student a prime candidate for the hottest jobs.
Deloitte had a stake in the process because, as a member company of Google’s hiring consortium, Deloitte views Grow with Google as a model for identifying and recruiting diverse talent. By helping shape courses that were, in turn, shaping candidates with the right skill sets, Deloitte helped make Grow with Google a leading learning and recruitment vehicle for a population that, not long ago, didn’t have a pipeline to land roles with some of the world’s largest employers.
The impact
More than 70,000 people have graduated with Google Career Certificates. Most enrollees will finish in fewer than six months, putting the cost at about $240 for US students. Some may need only three months, cutting that cost in half. Google is offering 100,000 need-based scholarships in the United States.
Deloitte is helping Google think through topics for future certifications. The firm is also planning to find ways to embed Grow with Google as a sustainable hiring channel throughout the entire organization.
Brittany, 30, is one of 14 Grow with Google graduates Deloitte hired. She now works as a Solutions Analyst Digital Designer and designs websites for clients. She credits the portfolio she built within the program as a key reason for winning her role. The experience gave her an opportunity to unlock her creativity and the technical skills. But it also gave her confidence:
"In the back of my mind I wasn't sure I had what it takes," she said. "I don't ask that question anymore. I like the work and want to see where it takes me."
From single seeds, a whole new garden is growing
