Corona and its influence on students' career decisions

The Corona situation has not only impacted many lives, but it has also had a profound influence on career plans. For example, many students and graduates are unable to find jobs/apprenticeships and must reorient themselves to make themselves attractive to changing employer demands. Certain professions, such as hospitality or tourism, have suffered greatly, whereas people with a tech education have seen increased opportunities. Therefore, we wanted to know how Constructor Academy students weathered the Corona storm and how these challenging times have affected their career plans.

Sami graduated from our Full-Stack Bootcamp 6 months ago and currently works as a Salesforce Developer at dormakaba. When he applied in spring 2020, we were in the middle of the first lockdown. His employer, where he was working as a janitor, kindly informed him that he should look for a new job as they do not have enough work to keep him busy in the medium/long term. This was the moment for Sami to start thinking about how his career should develop: look for a new job as a janitor or take the chance and give new perspectives to his professional career? A colleague from the IT department suggested that he should attend a Bootcamp and enter the IT industry. Without further ado, he signed up for Constructor Academy and prepared intensively for the start of the Bootcamp.

Without any programming experience, Sami was able to learn all the relevant tools and technologies in the 3 months of the Bootcamp to start a new job 1 month after graduation. Constructor Academy's support was extremely important for him in this process, as he was able to build valuable relationships and received helpful tips and tricks for the job search.

When asked why he applied to our Bootcamp Sami said: "It is almost impossible to teach yourself everything from scratch and during the Bootcamp I was able to learn everything I needed to start a job as a Software Developer in a very short time (only 12 weeks). Also, the projects are extremely helpful to show potential employers what I have learned. A diploma says little about skills. But if you can show what you have realized, that is the most important thing for the employer. "
 

Tiffany, one of our former Data Science students, moved to Switzerland at the end of 2019, as her husband had started a new job here in Zurich. Despite a master's in computer science and already some work experience, she would never have imagined that it would be so difficult to find a new job in Switzerland. Corona made it even more difficult, because during the lockdown it was impossible to build a professional network, a key component in the job search. For this reason, after a few months here in Zurich, Tiffany decided to apply to our Data Science Bootcamp after someone from the Spoogler community (partner of a Google employee) network made her aware of it. 
 

Upon completion of the Bootcamp, she received a job offer from AXPO where she has been working as a Data Engineer since March 2021. Constructor Academy was the proud difference maker as it was through our network that she got this job. Despite having some previous experience, the Bootcamp helped her to feel more confident to answer technical questions, and to build up her own portfolio of Data Science projects. Everything she learned during the Bootcamp was completely new and she would recommend it to anyone who already has a background in engineering or sciences and wants to take their skills to the next level.

The changes brought by the Covid 19 outbreak has made it important for many working professionals to further educate or reorient themselves and the tech industry clearly offers very great potential. By 2028, 117,900 additional skilled workers will be needed in this field to fill numerous open positions and to replace existing workers. If you want to change your career or learn new skills, Bootcamps are a great way to achieve your goals in the shortest possible time.