In early 2025, Tim Kinsey, 26, found himself at a career crossroads. The new dad was bartending to make ends meet while exploring other careers that would provide a steady income and more time with his family. With a degree in elementary education, Kinsey had already invested in college and taken additional classes in physical therapy, both of which he’d ruled out.
He was ready to gain new skills in a quick, affordable way, but wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. That’s when his mom and wife stepped in to remind him how much he loved computers. “They put the pieces together,” he said. “In middle school, I liked to play and learn how things worked. Yet somehow I didn’t see that as a career path.”
Kinsey’s mom, who worked at the Asheville airport, set up a job shadowing opportunity with an IT employee there, and Kinsey was hooked. After doing some online research, he purchased a bundle of virtual classes where he could teach himself basic IT troubleshooting techniques, but the course was hard to grasp without an instructor to answer questions.
That’s when a friend sent him an ad about a course A-B Tech was offering with Charlotte-based Per Scholas North Carolina, a nationally recognized non-profit dedicated to building sustainable and inclusive tech talent pipelines. A-B Tech partnered with Per Scholas last year to address workforce shortages caused by Hurricane Helene, and in underserved communities. The training is funded by the BlackRock Foundation, which awarded a $1 million, two-year grant to Per Scholas, enabling it to offer the $10,000 course free to students.
“I started out a little skeptical,” Kinsey said. “It felt too good to be true.” He looked into the course and found it covered hardware and software troubleshooting, as well as weekly sessions with a career coach on job searching and interviewing. And, unlike his online course, there were on-camera instructors there to answer questions. Kinsey decided to sign up, and less than a year later, he’s thriving in a new career.
After graduating from the course in September. The Hendersonville resident soon landed a job with Henderson County as a computer support technician. He credits his Per Scholas instructors for giving him the support he needed to gain confidence in a new field.
“A lot of them had transitioned from one career into IT like me,” he said. “Coming from different careers, they understood how to support us and make the tech field accessible.”
While he was in the program, Kinsey juggled bartending and classes with taking care of his new daughter. “It was a challenge,” he said. “You have to be on top of everything because it’s full-time. But there are a lot of benefits that come out of that.”
Kinsey also credits a cost-of-living stipend that he received from Per Scholas with making it possible for him to cut back on work hours to devote time to his studies. During those weeks, he’d rise early to get his daughter ready for daycare, settle in front of the computer for class from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., then work from 5:00 p.m. until around midnight.
His hard work is paying off. “This is the best place I could’ve hoped to start out,” he said. “I’m coming from the service industry, where you never know what your paycheck is going to look like. It’s nice to know what I’m going to bring in all the time. It’s also nice to see my wife and daughter. When I worked nights, I’d get back late at night, and they’d be asleep.”
Kinsey loves the variety of his new job, where he works with different county departments helping to set up new software, troubleshoot issues, and keep computers up to date. He likes the fact that his job combines working independently with collaborating with other IT workers.
Looking back, Kinsey is glad he kept searching for the right career, even though it meant sacrificing his quality of life for a short time to gain valuable skills. “You have to push yourself out of your comfort zone to learn,” he said. “There were moments in the course where I felt like a fish out of water, but you push yourself, you ask questions, and keep chugging along, and you become more knowledgeable. Using everything I was taught, I was able to start a new career.”
Per Scholas IT Support training is a 35-hour-per-week, 13-week course taught M-F, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Learn more and register at IT Support.