A Key to This Company's Talent Strategy: Cultivating Ties With Local High Schools

Provalus, a 100% U.S.-based outsourcing organization, has become known for its unique talent strategy. Where some might see a sleepy, rural town, Provalus sees an opportunity to develop undiscovered talent—fueling a future where the workers, the communities, and their clients prosper.  

A key to the company’s success in revitalizing rural America is engaging locals and forming strong community partnerships—especially with nearby high schools. 

As Provalus sees it, they’re reclaiming the American dream. 

“We create an atmosphere and a culture of success, empowerment, and learning. When you surround people with that, they thrive,” said Provalus President Mike Keogh. 

At each of its locations, Provalus works to establish a partnership with every high school within a 20-mile radius. With nine locations across the country established and four coming soon, the team is leading numerous efforts: offering internships and shadowing opportunities, meeting with career counselors, shaping curriculum alongside educators to meet industry needs, sitting on advisory boards, and more.  

“Exposure at the high school level is one of our earliest and most crucial components to our success in building talent pipelines in the communities we support,” said Chris Dearman, senior director of Training and Learning Strategies. “By reaching students while they’re determining their future career paths, we create opportunities for dialogue and intrigue in spaces that are typically underutilized in rural areas.”  

Provalus offers hands-on opportunities for high school students to shadow at all sites, and currently offers internships at its locations in Manning, S.C., and Tahlequah, Okla. Historically, nearly 1 in 4 interns have gone on to become full-time employees at Provalus, and to extend that impact, the team plans to embed an internship into a semester-long program at participating high schools.  

Setting up talent for a successful career is at the core of their recruitment and hiring model. The recruiting team at Provalus insources talent, meaning they train their workers to develop the necessary skills and qualifications, rather than hiring workers who already possess all necessary qualifications. This approach allows the company to recruit based on aptitude and potential—and that can make all the difference when engaging high school students. A common barrier for early talent is they do not always have the technical skills needed to meet the demands of specific roles, especially in emerging fields such as cybersecurity or network operations. 

Investing in communities means Provalus seeks innovative ways to engage students with aptitude and potential for a role.  

According to Provalus executives, AP^® Cybersecurity—a new career-related course for high school students launching this fall—has the potential to advance that. The course offers students the opportunity to earn college credit and employer recognition, helping them advance  along multiple pathways after high school. 

“From a recruiting standpoint, AP Cybersecurity is vital,” said Dearman. “If students already have the foundational skills and framework down before coming to us, we can focus our training on the competencies specific to their roles, getting them to proficiency that much more quickly.” 

Since its founding in 2017, Provalus has been offering talent of all backgrounds and experience levels a pathway to economic mobility and a fulfilling career. By supporting credentials like AP Cybersecurity, they’re giving students more opportunities—especially students who otherwise may not have exposure to career paths in technology or business.  

A few years ago, Provalus recognized high potential in a 19-year-old straight out of high school and brought him on through The Tech Foundry, the organization’s program where employees are paid as they get trained for a career in customer experience, IT service, network operations, or cybersecurity. Four years later, he obtained a bachelor’s degree while working full time and his team oversees an entire region of the U.S. Today, he’s on a future leadership trajectory.   

His story is inspiring, but not uncommon at Provalus because of the commitments the company has made to support the communities in which the company has offices.  

“The biggest thing in rural America is that students are just not exposed [to opportunities]. It has nothing to do with attitude, or aptitude, or skills, or ability,” said Dearman. 

Provalus proves that reclaiming the American dream starts with exposure. Meeting students in the classroom, inviting them on-site, and working with educators to equip students with competitive skills for all pathways—these are workforce solutions that are not only changing students’ lives but are changing entire communities.     

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Provalus is endorsing AP Cybersecurity in service of a shared mission to bring career-focused learning into the classroom.