Ricardo Torres Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Ismael Lopez was working at a restaurant in Chicago when he was laid off due to the pandemic. He moved home to Milwaukee to find another job.
Lopez, 38, spent most of his career in the restaurant industry. He also had a talent for solving issues on smart devices and decided to get serious about a career in IT and computer science.
While attending classes at Milwaukee Area Technical College, Lopez was approached by a recruiter from i.c.stars about joining its program in Milwaukee.
“I thought it was a scam,” Lopez said, adding after talking to a few graduates of the program he decided to apply and is now halfway through the program.
