As the tech industry continues to boom, many people are trying to leave their current jobs and enter the growing sector.
However, one Canadian tells Daily Hive that finding one’s footing in a new field can be difficult, expensive, and time-consuming.
Daniyar Yeskaliyev moved to Canada in 2020 as a permanent resident. After working in sales, he realized he wanted to break into the tech space but found it “challenging at times.”
With so many different avenues, the 30-year-old said, “I needed help.”
After seeking mentorship, networking, and teaching himself as much as he could, ComIT was eventually suggested to him.
ComIT is a charitable organization that offers free technology and professional skills training boot camps to help Canadians find jobs in tech.
Yeskaliyev is one of more than 1,000 who have completed a course, which he’s since listed at the top of his resume and found work.
“It was opening the doors for the interviews,” he said.
ComIT/Facebook
Breaking barriers in accessing education
Pablo Listingart, is the founder of ComIT, which has been running in Canada for eight years.
When he was attending university in Argentina, he said he noticed that despite the school being public, some people still encountered barriers.
“I realized that even if university is free, then people still have to pay for food, they have to provide for their family, they have to find a job to pay for the books or the bus to school.
“So many people are still left out,” he explained. “Even here in Canada, if you give somebody 100% scholarship to attend university, many people can’t afford to go to college or university for two to four years because they need to find a job to provide for their families.”
Listingart said he thought that providing boot camp-like courses could help people build basic skills to apply for in-demand jobs and eventually afford a higher education.
High demand courses
ComIT now runs around 12 to 15 boot camps a year. It offers small classes led by instructors around Canada (like Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto) and online. Courses are part-time and run for about three months.
Students are expected to attend classes for about eight hours a week and complete homework. After graduating, ComIT says it can also help with finding employers that are hiring.
In 2021, ComIT created a specified program for Indigenous students after conducting a survey and finding Indigenous professionals in tech was “very low,” Listingart said. Since, ComIT has been offering remote courses to Indigenous communities.
Listingart said ComIT trains nearly 600 students a year in Canada, but, “we receive around 10 times more applications than the people that we can actually take per year.”
ComIT
Of the number of people applying, about 20% of applicants are approved. While no prior education or work experience is needed to apply, Listingart said ComIT seeks people who are motivated to break into the tech world.
Yeskaliyev said with his technical engineering degree, he found the program easy to follow. While the program could be demanding at times, especially for those juggling work and their day-to-day responsibilities, Yeskaliyev said it’s up to students to carve out time to ensure he was able to complete the program so they can be one step closer to joining the tech workforce.
ComIT/Facebook
Yeskaliyev now volunteers with ComIT to offer future students the same opportunities he has.
“It’s important to have people like Daniyar, taking the courses, accepting that first job, and then coming back to help others,” Listingart said. “It’s not all about the organization. It’s also about building a community around this opportunity.”