Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
PRESENTED BY CRAFT ACADEMY

‘A 3-year education in 3 months’: coding bootcamp

There are four times as many men as women working in tech in Sweden.

Published: 2 May 2017 15:09 CEST
'A 3-year education in 3 months': coding bootcamp
Photo: Pixabay
While companies are looking to diversify and bring new voices to the table, they are sometimes faced with the same gender imbalances in applicants that they find in their own development teams.

Craft Academy wants to get as many women working in software development as possible. The 12 week intensive programming course preps students of all levels to join the workforce or to launch their own projects.

“I worked as a teacher for 15 years before enrolling in the camp,” says current student Jennifer. “But I wanted to have a new job that would give me more flexibility. I could never have gone back to school for four years because I have a family.”

For women looking to change careers to a rapidly-growing industry with great potential for personal growth, Craft Academy can jump-start a role in tech.

Stockholm native Ebba enrolled in the bootcamp upon arriving home from an extended period of world travelling. Having studied mostly business and entrepreneurship courses at university, she had never thought about IT and coding – until she tried to start her own business.

“I wanted to make my own living, and of course needed a website,” recalls the recent Craft Academy graduate. “I realised hiring someone else to do this costs a lot, so I tried to learn it all myself. But it was too difficult, so I googled around and came across Craft Academy.” 

The bootcamp is the only one of its kind in Sweden, enrolling students who are starting from scratch and bringing them to the level of junior developer in three months. Since the bootcamp assumes no prior knowledge, it’s perfect for anyone – from recent school graduates to those working for a major career change.

Find out more about Craft Academy and what it can do for you

“When I started, I didn’t even know what a variable was,” recalls Ebba. “My group’s final project was a mobile app that you could swipe like Tinder. It’s kind of amazing thinking about how far we came in three months.”

Photo: Craft Academy

“The 12-week course involves a lot of studying and development,” explains alumna Lucia, who had trained as a molecular biologist before delving into the world of code.

“The same practical knowledge achieved in three months in the bootcamp would be otherwise achieved in probably three years.”

To further encourage women to enrol, Craft Academy offers a partial scholarship to female participants.

“It’s important to encourage equality. We support women in every way possible – putting them front and centre encourages more to apply and get involved,” Craft Academy coach Amber tells The Local.

“We recognise that the industry is not as woman friendly; awareness alone is a good first step. We try and address the difficulties in any way we can. We prioritise equality.”

“The coaches at the camp don’t differentiate between men and women,” agrees Ebba. “They’re there to help everyone.”

Instead of focusing on the differences between men and women, Craft Academy focuses on recruiting those with a passion for programming.

“Programming is not something for men or women; it’s something for passionate, curious people,” states Lucia. “The programme is difficult and demanding, and requires energy and focus. Only those who are willing to give it their best shot will survive the steep learning curve.”

Amber does her best to encourage and support female participants.

“Sometime it is harder for women to speak up and take command of their education,” she added. “It’s important for the coaches to recognise that and make a space for women in the group.”

Even after the students gain employment they receive continued support from the bootcamp.

“I got help building my CV and preparing for interviews. But even now I am still in touch with most of my cohort and coaches. If I ever need help or advice, they never turn their backs on me,” notes Lucia.

Ebba agrees.

“You don’t just pay for the 12 weeks, you get help for as long as you need. They’re always there for you.”

In some ways, as Ebba tells The Local, being a female in a large group of males can have its advantages.

“I might not be the best coder, I’m still learning and developing…but because the tech industry is desperate for women, the company I work for was eager to give me a chance.”

Ebba currently interns at a startup, building the second version of a popular mobile application for young women. She works remotely with a programmer from Kenya, among others.

Lucia now works as a front end developer for a consulting company in Gothenburg, focusing largely on customer experience. She credits her success to the skills she learned during her time at the programming bootcamp.

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Helvetica; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Helvetica; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; min-height: 13.0px} span.s1 {font-kerning: none}

“Craft Academy is rewarding, and the job market is exploding with possibilities,” says Lucia, “I strongly advise following this path. It changed my life!”

Interested? Enrol now or click here to learn more 

This article was produced by The Local Client Studio and sponsored by Craft Academy.

For members

READER INSIGHTS

How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who’ve been there, done that

The Swedish job market poses unique challenges for newcomers. The Local's readers share their best tips for cracking the career code.

Published: 10 April 2024 11:32 CEST
Updated: 13 April 2024 15:50 CEST
How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who've been there, done that

Network, network, network!

A statistic that often gets tossed around is that seven out of ten jobs in Sweden are obtained through personal connections, and there’s no doubt that a good network is crucial to your job hunt, making the labour market extra challenging for newcomers to the country.

In fact, networking was the main tip mentioned by The Local’s readers.

“The job market is quite hot in Sweden, and talent is in short supply. People hiring do not have a lot of time to find the right talent, and tips from friends, colleagues and former colleagues are the way to first, find out organisations are hiring, and secondly, get your CV on the short list,” said Kyle, a Canadian reader who works in innovation management in Gothenburg.

“If you are going for a major employer like Volvo, network gets you in the door, as HR does not have much to do with hiring… the hiring managers do all of it and have no time, due to the insane number of consensus meetings. If you are looking for smaller organisations, they have even less time to find people, and networking is their primary way to find talent,” he added.

NETWORKING IN SWEDEN:

Some of the networking tips readers mentioned were going to job fairs, getting an internship to help you establish connections in your preferred field, joining clubs (this could be anything from your local gardening association to meetups for coders, but focus on clubs that may be popular among people working in your chosen field), and drawing on your organic network of friends, neighbours and others.

Don’t neglect the groundwork

The saying “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” is getting worn out (and people may look at you funny if you turn up to interviews in a Batman suit), but there’s truth to the notion of making sure you know what you want – and preparing for it.

In other words, don’t wait for a job ad to appear before you start to customise your CV and figure out what skill set you need. Create your CV now so that you’re ready to tweak it to your dream job – you could even have a general look at job ads in your field to see what requirements are needed. And don’t forget to spruce up your LinkedIn profile so that it fits with your career goals.

“I believe that several factors contribute to successfully landing a desirable job in Sweden. It’s essential to prepare to meet the requirements beyond just having a university degree. Many individuals realise these requirements only after completing their studies when they start searching for a job, which can be too late,” said Adnan Aslam from Pakistan, who works as a food inspector.

“I recommend identifying the job advertisements for positions you aspire to hold in the future and then preparing for those requirements during your studies. For me, acquiring a basic level of proficiency in the Swedish language and obtaining a Swedish driving licence were crucial. I pursued these goals during my studies and was able to secure a desirable job before graduating,” he added.

READ ALSO:

Felipe Cabral even has a GPT assistant trained on his own CVs and old cover letters, and said the set-up only takes ten minutes if you already have your documents. “With that in place, you can give instructions like: Read this job description and create a tailored version of my CV and letter for it. (…) Remember to always review and ask it not to create data aside from your documents.”

Be flexible and ready to adapt

Moving to a new place inevitably means having to learn not just the practicalities such as how to write a CV or which websites to use to look for job openings, but also learning how to navigate a new culture with all its unspoken expectations.

Swedish workplaces are generally less hierarchical than many other countries, but that doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want whenever you want without anyone raising an eyebrow. Swedes are usually direct, but be careful of being too abrasive or boastful: raising your voice, even during a spirited argument, or banging your own drum to show off your skills may not go down well.

“Talk, deliberate, complain like a Swede and you’ll come across like you know what the job entails, so your trustworthiness increases,” said an Indian data analyst who preferred to remain anonymous.

“Office politics are just as strong in Sweden as anywhere else. The flat hierarchy is deceiving as social hierarchy is enforced quite a bit in that lack of formal hierarchy. Take your time in learning these dynamics wherever you work before revealing your talent and capabilities. Expect those internal politics to happen, and they won’t hurt so much when they do,” said Kyle, the Canadian reader in Gothenburg.

This article about Swedish office politics may be useful.

Stay true to yourself

Adapting to your surroundings is one thing. Completely changing who you are is another.

For one thing, your happiness is as important as your career progression, and for another, your foreignness need not be an impediment: it’s also a skill that sets you apart from the rest. It means you have unique experience, and also, in the right setting, provides an opportunity to sometimes violate those social rules we mentioned above, because people assume you will, anyway.

“Trust is key. Build trust in your network, work with integrity. It’s OK to violate jantelagen if you are maintaining integrity. Sometimes your outsider and more honest/open opinion will burn bridges, especially those that may feel threatened by talent. But it will build trust with other colleagues who see it as brave and more trustworthy to work with,” said Kyle from Canada.

Hunker down for the long haul

We don’t want to scare you, because there are plenty of examples of people who quickly find their dream job in Sweden and settle into their new workplace, enjoying perks such as long summer holidays, generous parental leave and the famous work-life balance.

But if you do find it tougher than you expected: know that you’re not alone.

Several readers who responded to the survey said they were still trying to find a job in Sweden.

“I found jobs all over Europe but not here. They say they have a lack of experienced senior engineers but the don’t seem to be doing much to solve this,” said a Brazilian in Gothenburg.

A reader from Bangladesh said she was “at a loss” as to how to make a career change from her current AI role in Stockholm, despite many years of experience as an IT project manager.

“Over the past 18 months, I’ve submitted over 600 applications to various organisations. Unfortunately, despite being overqualified for some positions, I’ve faced rejections at every turn, from both large and small companies. The job market here, especially for foreign-born women, feels overwhelmingly challenging,” she said, adding that the struggle had impacted her mental health.

The Local has on several occasions reported on foreign residents’ struggle to get a foot on the Swedish job ladder, with many facing hurdles such as employers’ unfamiliarity with international degrees, discrimination, or a lack of network that can provide paths into a company.

So during the job hunt, don’t forget to care for yourself. Share your concerns with fellow job-seekers, ask for help and join networking groups – this is good not just for creating new contacts, but also in terms of your social well-being and meeting people who are in a similar situation.

And finally, as one British reader in Stockholm advised, keep looking: “Be open-minded with the opportunities that present themselves. It isn’t an easy market to enter and doesn’t feel inclusive.” But he added, “don’t give up”.

SHOW COMMENTS