Janine lands dream job in tech thanks to Power Up digital skills course

Janine O'Connor was struggling to land a job in tech until she enrolled on a digital skills development programme at Generation, a charity based in East London and funded by the Power Up initiative.

Janine had been trying to find entry level roles in the tech sector for 2 years but had been struggling to find the right training or experience that would allow her to get started in her chosen career. That was until she was signposted to the AWS re/Start programme at Generation, an East London charity delivering the Power Up initiative, funded by digital inclusion charity Good Things Foundation.

The training was challenging but with the help and support from the team at Generation, Janine was motivated to embrace the large amount of material covered in the 12 week course. By applying growth mindset learnings from the course – believing she had the ability to learn everything she needed to – she was able to take on and retain the large amounts of information covered in the curriculum.

Hannah Lovegrove, Senior Instructional Coach at Generation tells us: “Janine was a stellar member of her cohort. She was committed, conscientious and helpful. She’d always spend time helping others with employability tasks, such as writing their own personal statements, and with tech support. She’d often stay into the evening to ‘perfect her craft’. She is a hardworking and passionate young woman.”

The combination of technical IT skills (Linux, Python, AWS) and soft skills (presenting) acquired on the programme, have helped Janine successfully secure a role as a Digital Transformation Associate at consultancy firm, ECS, where she has quickly found her feet in her new role.

Martyn Scott, Head of Talent Development at ECS tells us: “Janine has been with ECS for just over a month now, having joined at a far from ideal time due to the UK lockdown. Despite the obvious challenge of embarking upon a new career and establishing herself in our organisation at such a time, Janine has displayed real determination and diligence in the way she has thrown herself into the role.”

For Janine, getting the right training made all the difference. She says: “I am extremely grateful for the opportunities that the AWS re/Start programme and the Power Up initiative have provided me and would strongly recommend the programme to those looking to work for a tech company.”