The Tech generation focuses on applied practice and mentoring provided directly by specialists in the field of work. Participants go through mentors 2 live (or recorded) sessions per week and practice the new skills alone and with other group colleagues. The weekly projects have a preset continuity, so that at the end of the course the graduate already has two own portfolio projects with which he can be noticed in front of the employers. Another great help in the development process The Tech Generation is the community that supports the participant to achieve their goals, in an atmosphere with support from all sides. In three quarters of cases, colleagues find quick or on-the-spot answers to students’ questions, and any blockage is resolved with the participation of mentors and other members. The cost of the Digital Nation program for beginners is 399 lei (equivalent to 80 euros), and of the advanced program, 1,399 lei (equivalent to 290 euros). Both types of programs run for 4 months. The Tech generation started in 2019, when the global organization Google.org supported the project to be offered free of charge in key development regions in Romania: Albă, Bihor and Neamţ. The pilot edition was open to young people aged 15-24, from the project regions chosen for their potential to retain local workforce and build zonal development potential. At the opening of the program in 2019, Elisabeta Moraru, Country Manager of Google Romania said: “By 2025 by increasing digital skills we could make an impact of over 42 billion dollars in Romania’s GDP, it means that a lot of efforts are needed to to support the digital economy and the jobs of the future, which require skills related to preparing for jobs that do not exist now. ”
“In 2019-2020 over 750 young people from Alba, Neamţ and Bihor have enrolled in the program and learned programming. In 2021-2022 we will expand the program to other regions that need digital skills so as to support the development of a core “We are currently in talks with more than 12 local governments to expand the program and expect more than 2,500 young people to participate in the program ,” said Paul Apostol, founder of Digital Nation. Tech Generation participants can go through the employability module of the program, where they learn how to prepare their career path and even receive concrete local employment offers. The latest series of Tech Generation graduates has been involved in delivering the web services of the SME Online program , developed within Digital Nation. Through the “Turnkey IT” program, Tech Generation students built presentation websites based on accurate information received from partner companies, exercising directly in the real world the skills learned in the course. They worked for 1-2 weeks and received starter compensations of 500 lei / participant from the beneficiaries for the delivered proposals.
“Even with these work systems, we were very surprised by the seriousness and involvement of the high school students. They participated in every meeting with customers and learned how to present a service and how to deal with a customer’s objections. The delivery time was about 10 days and there were daily status sessions. After the first projects, the delivery time has already been reduced to 5 days and the young people have started to be much more efficient in providing an estimated time and planning their work ” , says Andi Cucu – Project Manager Generatia Tech With 7 years of experience in tech mentoring, Digital Nation uses the best of current online teaching methodologies to build an engaging, applied and enjoyable development process. In addition to the technical skills acquired by students, they also gain a whole range of soft (non-technical) skills that help them navigate the professional space: communication and expression skills, time management, problem solving and crisis management, creative thinking and Teamwork.
