Net4Working: Network Building for IT Career Changers

JULY 30, 2023

LUISA EISERMANN  AND LISA NÜSSLEIN

At SuperCode, we are here for our graduates! We offer a strong corporate network, comprehensive job coaching, and various networking events to make it easier for our alumni to transition into their first job after bootcamp. To further improve our networks, learn from others, and better support our alumni in the future, we have launched the European partnership project Net4Working, which focuses on networking.

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But what is networking all about?

It's simple: building and maintaining relationships to achieve mutual benefit. In the work context, it is particularly important and can be done in various ways, such as through personal meetings, networking events, online platforms, or business networks. A good networking strategy requires time, energy, and some thought, but it definitely pays off!

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Alumni networks, in particular, are super helpful for making contacts, exchanging information and experiences, and opening up career opportunities, such as getting your first job after attending a bootcamp. They also help maintain and strengthen the relationship between an educational institution and its former participants.

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Tell me more about the Net4Working project

SuperCode and the Social Hackers Academy in Athens launched the project as part of the EU's Erasmus+ program. The goal is to facilitate the transition of IT career changers from further education to their first new job. One challenge is that graduates who switch to the IT industry as career changers often do not yet have a network in this field. The project therefore examines how educational institutions can build and maintain such a network for mutual support. The measurable goal is ultimately a higher job placement rate after bootcamps and thus a successful transition from further education to the workforce.

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And what are the results?

Within the project, we conducted interviews and surveys with companies, other educational institutions, and alumni. The alumni of the bootcamps we surveyed told us about their experiences in their job search. They emphasized the importance of perseverance, staying up-to-date with industry trends, and taking advantage of offerings such as job speed dating or job coaching from SuperCode.

"Stay positive, a job offer will come, it's a marathon not a sprint."

When asked how we as an educational institution can better support them after the bootcamp, we received the following tips: providing more emotional support in addition to technical support, better expectation management during times of difficult job market, and creating a mentoring program.

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"Many reject you because you have only done a bootcamp and have no degree or professional experience in software development to show for it."

After exchanging further experiences with the Social Hackers Academy and discussing our successes as well as our biggest fuck ups in this area, we held our first community event to inaugurate our new Discord alumni server. It was a lot of fun and a complete success for all of us.

The results are promising and have been summarized in a guidebook that aims to help other European programming schools or educational institutions build and maintain a strong network. We hope that this will provide better support for more IT career changers, not only from coding schools but also from their peers, and make it easier for them to enter the workforce after their further education.

You can download the guidebook here:

Download Guidebook

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Disclaimer:

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

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This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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