OfferUp Debuts $250,000 Career Empowerment Scholarship to Improve Diversity in Tech
OfferUp and Ironhack are teaming up to empower and provide underrepresented creators with the tools they need to turbocharge their careers.
After Alejandro Poggi graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in Computer Science, he knew he wanted to enter the tech industry and become a creator of tools to help his community. Still, he wasn’t sure that he had the skills necessary to make the right impression with the top-tier tech companies in his city. “I started my career doing finance automation at a private bank, but I wanted to dig deeper into application development. I knew I needed to hone my skills and experience so I could be seen as a more competitive candidate,” Poggi says. “There’s a strong demand for entry-level developers right now, so there’s a lot of opportunity for those who are considering a career in tech.”
To build the skills and industry contacts needed to boost his career, Alejandro decided to apply to Ironhack, a coding boot camp headquartered in Miami with campuses throughout Europe and Latin America. In addition to providing a world-class educational program, Ironhack aims to help fill the tech industry’s employment gap for underrepresented groups and women. Ironhack’s educational programs provide students with the technical training and industry introductions they need to be employable after graduation. Every student gets access to the most in-demand digital skills through live and hands-on training and can build the foundation for a tech career, regardless of their previous experience.
“The experience at Ironhack was amazing. I hadn’t done web development before, so the classes gave me a chance to build on skills that are in high demand right now. It was helpful to have a background in computer science, but I used the class as an opportunity to dive deeper into my self-learning with a goal of landing a tech job at the graduation of the two-month course,” Poggi adds.
After completing the course in Web Development, Alejandro worked with Ironhack’s career services department and landed a job at CareCloud before he graduated, a software company in Miami. Ironhack has a career services program designed to help students identify their ideal outcome and support them throughout the process to reach it as fast as possible. Students receive career placement assistance parallel to their technical training, and it is a key feature of the student journey.
“Big data is the cutting edge of computer science, so when my current manager at OfferUp reached out on LinkedIn and told me about the team he wanted to build, I was instantly intrigued,” said Poggi. “OfferUp is one of the premiere start-ups in the US, and I was using it regularly to buy and sell things like furniture and clothes before I applied for the position. The interview process was tough, but I appreciated that OfferUp presented itself as a place where you can grow as a professional and be on a team and a company that is on a fast growth path as well.”
Alejandro’s career success is just one reason why OfferUp has decided to partner with Ironhack and deliver more than $250,000 in educational scholarships for women and underrepresented professionals with the OfferUp x Ironhack Tech Career Empowerment Scholarship.
Since 2017, the company has partnered with top-tier tech companies to award more than $1.5M in scholarships to those in need or underrepresented groups. More than 7,000 of its graduates now have careers at Fortune 500 companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Uber, and more. Of their US graduates, 34 percent are women, and 62 percent identify as Black or Hispanic.
- All are welcome to apply regardless of identity, background, and educational experience
- Scholarships are prioritized for underrepresented candidates and women looking to enter the tech world (including Black, Latino/Hispanic, Native American/Native Alaskan)
- All applicants must be 18 years of age or older to apply and have their own working laptop
- At the moment and due to COVID-19, all courses will be taught through Ironack Miami’s remote-live course program
Space in the program is limited, and scholarships are available on a need and first-come basis, so apply by November 20 for your chance to win a scholarship to attend one of Ironhack Miami’s Remote-Live career-changing courses.
“OfferUp has created a good environment for engineers working remotely due to COVID,” Poggi adds. “For anyone looking to make a career transition like myself, I want to recommend Ironhack, and also recommend that you find your self-motivation to dive deep into your learning. Be a knowledge sponge — learn the small building blocks and then expand your knowledge as much as possible so you can be the best you can be.”
Career opportunities are available at OfferUp today. See the Careers page or follow @lifeatofferup on Instagram for more details.
