In this first edition of the +50 Program, which will last until the end of August, 10 people with very different profiles are participating. We invite you to know the stories of Adriana, Carlos and Leonardo who, one month after the start of the training, tell us how they arrived, what their expectations are and how they are living the first experiences of the +50 Program.
Adriana is 56 years old and trained as a programmer analyst and Genexus analyst. She worked in multiple companies and projects until the crisis of 2002, when she was fired from her job due to budget cuts. "Technology advances very fast and if you didn't have the chance to update yourself when you grew up, you are left out", she explains. After several unsuccessful attempts to reintegrate, Adriana had to work in multiple jobs, far from her vocation. She worked as a cook and currently takes care of the elderly with the hope of being able to return to the technological field. "I found out about the +50 Program by chance, through a neighbor. And I managed to sign up on the last day. They answered me right away. I was very scared at the first class, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to. And now I'm happy. It has been surpassing all my expectations. I'm very happy to have this opportunity again. I always try to transmit to my children that you can always do it, that it's never too late," she says.
Carlos is 42 years old and in 2000 he and his wife decided to start a game blog and their income came from advertising. In 2008, with the arrival of Facebook, the advertising world took a turn and changed the business model. They failed to catch up and had to close the business. "I looked for other jobs, but I couldn't compete with the young people," he explained. And he went on to work in a paint shop where he continues to this day. "I had the chance to meet Pyxis in April during the meeting of the b_IT Program, in which I am in my second year. There I got to know the +50 initiative and I didn't hesitate to send my CV right away. It was perfectly adapted to my reality". Carlos said he was very grateful and felt welcome from the very beginning.
Leonardo is 43 years old and worked in testing until 2000. At that time he decided to study journalism, another of his passions, and later it was impossible for him to re-engage. "It is a reality that companies are betting on younger staff," he says. "The +50 generates a new, propitious environment, to turn it into an opportunity, a possibility," he emphasized. The student is grateful for the group that was generated from the Program. "I can't single out just one classmate, because they are all great. We even have a Whatsapp group called 'Happy Testers', we help each other, we pass information to each other". Leo recommends the program 100% and is convinced that his generation has a lot to contribute. "It's like a football team, where you have experienced veterans and young people. You're sure to have a winning team.
Inside the +50 Program
The course is dictated in 16 weeks and offers an online modality with a weekly face-to-face class in charge of Pilar. There they level the online work, deepen in the concepts that have doubts, and so on. "The most interesting thing is that as we are all +50 (including me) we share experiences and situations that we have lived in our jobs and try to see how they can be solved today. I am very happy to be part of it, it is a super restless and motivated group. They are eager to share experiences and learn a lot", she tells us.
Later they will see soft skills, since the idea is that, in addition to testing, they can acquire soft skills and also tools that help them in the search for job opportunities (CV, create job profile in networks, interviews), soft skills, and so on. "We chose to train in testing because it has the particularity of adding value and incorporating people quickly into the labor market. It is an area where it is not required to master all the technology, but to understand business flows and processes", explains Pilar Albacete, QE Lead at Abstracta and teacher of +50 at Pyxis.
Natalia Martínez, in charge of Human Development, explains that they are betting on "links with other organizations or companies so that they join the initiative and want to incorporate already trained candidates". "We invite companies that are interested in hiring these profiles to approach the Program and ask questions," adds Natalia.
In parallel, Pilar reports that "we look for ways to incorporate them into the testing community through invitations to different events that are constantly held, for example, TestingUy, Nahual MeetUp, among others". Although this is the first generation +50 to be trained, with limited places, we want to remind those who are still interested in training, that this course is also taught in Abstracta, a reference institution in the market for the testing area, and can be accessed by anyone in 100% online mode. It is called Software Tester Course and provides the knowledge and skills needed to work as a software application test analyst.
We share info: http://abstracta.academy/es/certificacion-de-software-tester
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