Business UNusual Spotlight

Google Career Certificate holders find career path at Deloitte

SDI DEI info in front of electric power lines station
Instead of...
Focusing on hiring graduates from four-year degree programs
Deloitte's U.S. Delivery Center teams
Make Grow with Google certificate holders part of their talent pool
Nearly two-thirds of all new jobs created since 2010 require either high- or medium-level digital skills, but a 2018 study found 1 in 3 working Americans lacked these skills.

Google Career Certificates provide job seekers with job-ready skills for in-demand careers without the need for a college degree or prior experience in the fields of data analytics, digital marketing & e-commerce, IT support, project management, and user experience (UX) design.

Developed and taught by Google employees, certificates can be completed in three to six months of part-time study.  Courses are hosted on Coursera and focus on teaching in-demand skills via hands-on activities, assessments, discussion forums and more.

Upon completion, graduates get access to the Google Career Certificates Employer Consortium, a group of more than 150 companies from a variety of industries who are committed to considering skill-specific certificates rather than only college degrees for entry-level roles.

More than half of Google Career Certificate holders in the U.S. identify as Asian, Black or Latino (based on U.S. program graduates’ survey responses in 2021) and 75% report a positive career impact within six months of completing the program, such as a new job, promotion or raise.

Certificate graduates can hit the ground running after they’ve been hired, say leaders at Deloitte, one of Google’s Employer Consortium members. Deloitte provides new hires with additional skills they’ll need in their consulting career in the onboarding process and beyond.

Deloitte Connection

Deloitte helped Google vet the course content for the Google Data Analytics Certificate and the Google Project Management Certificate on a pro bono basis, then became one of the first firms to hire Google-certified professionals.

“Like every other organization right now, we are looking to hire at great speed, and we are looking to hire [candidates] with specific skill sets,” Martin Kamen, principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP, told Staffing.com in February. “This gives us an avenue to bring people in more quickly to fill [critical] roles, and we know folks will have the capabilities based on completing these certificates.’”

What changed

Previously Deloitte’s U.S. Delivery Center teams focused on hiring graduates from four-year degree programs. Now Grow with Google certificate holders are part of the talent pool.
The initial cohort:

  • Included 15 individuals who started at three Deloitte offices in 2021
  • Completed certificates in data analytics, project management, and UX design

Making the shift  from degree requirements to skills-based hiring was a deliberate process. Deloitte Consulting LLP CEO Dan Helfrich as well as the Organization’s chief talent officer, David Rizzo and chief diversity officer, Kwasi Mitchell had opportunities to weigh in. While a new hiring avenue was the main goal, Deloitte leaders also value the Google Career Certificates’ social impact and see the program as enhancing their overall diversity strategy.

Feedback from business teams who’ve brought in the Google-certified employees has been positive. Now Deloitte is looking to scale up the pipeline and grow it as a source for new hires.

Learn more

Corporate Coalition members interested in learning more can contact our staff to get connected to Grow with Google and/or Deloitte or check out grow.google/employers.

Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the firm's legal structure.