IT courses organized by the National LGBT rights organization LGL are ongoing and it will help young people under the age of 29 who are not studying and cannot find a job for a long period of time to find employment in the IT sector. The courses are implemented as part of the project “Direction Employment”, funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Youth Employment. The courses are facilitated by Code Academy. Participants in courses organized by LGL reveal in this interview what led to the development of IT skills and the benefits of promoting diversity in the organization of these courses.
– What motivated you to participate in the courses organized by LGL?
Monika: – The participation in the courses organized by LGL was encouraged by the fact that during the quarantine it was difficult to establish oneself in the labor market and I started to consider retraining opportunities. The most interesting area is the information technology sector. So I decided to look for courses and other opportunities where I could learn new skills or update my existing knowledge. During the pandemic, physical contact was severely limited due to health problems and an increased risk of contracting severe form of COVID-19. As a result, I chose to develop skills in online-learning courses.
I saw the advertisement of the courses organized by LGL on the social network Facebook and wrote with interest to the organizers. I attribute myself to the LGBT community. Because I met the age requirements for participants, I was invited to join the course.
Donatas: – Participation in the courses organized by LGL was motivated by thoughts about the future after quarantine, advertising on the social network Facebook, the desire to receive a certificate confirming the acquired knowledge.
Maya: – I was motivated to join the courses organized by LGL by the desire to change my career direction. Not knowing where to start, I accidentally saw LGL’s announcement about the courses. Although I didn’t expect to get into them because there was less than a week left until the ad expired, I was very happy to receive a letter from LGL just a day later.
– How do you envisage your future in the IT sector?
Monika: – I think that in the near future it will be difficult to get a job and adapt to a different type of work than I am used to. However, I envision myself working for an international company and currently the most interesting areas are UX / UI design and data analysis using the Python programming language and, to be more precise, the SQL language.
Donatas: – The future in the field of IT still seems bleak to me, but having a certificate, I hope to get a job as a programmer somewhere – just to get acquainted with the specifics of this job, I will consistently gain experience.
I am also already working on some of my own ideas – smart home solutions, electricity consumption analytics, automation, I have been dreaming for some time to apply IT solutions to make agricultural work more efficient in small areas.
Maya: – So far, it’s hard to imagine my future, and I also don’t like to set high expectations for myself. For the time being, I look forward to internship opportunities, after which it will be easier to decide on the potential in this area, at least in Lithuania.
– What do you think is the main strength of the courses organized by LGL?
Monika: – I think that the main strength of the courses organized by LGL is that the participants are offered the opportunity to get acquainted with the diverse world of IT. Not only is one major programming language taught, but other positions in the IT sector are allowed to be explored.
Donatas: – I am glad that I had the opportunity to find out what problems LGL is currently solving.
Maya: – I admire good course organization and communication the most.
– What knowledge did you acquire in the courses organized by LGL?
Monika: – Since the courses are not over yet, it is difficult to name all the knowledge and skills specifically. However, I can already say that I have learned how to use certain design programs, how to plan time to do homework. I learned how different programming languages are and what kind of work awaits me in the IT sector.
Donatas: – In the part of website design, I learned a lot about the tools and techniques used by designers – it was completely new. I also learned a lot in human rights lectures – in general, there seems to be a very big gap not to teach this at school, because that is the basis of all our economic and social relations.
Maya: – I gained front end programming knowledge and the principles of good general programming. It was also useful to learn things that involve collaboration between design, front end and back end, as I have never had to work with projects that cover all of these areas before.
The project “Direction Employment” is funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Youth Employment.