Our INCO graduates, from code students to volunteers

In addition to the Web Development course, the MigraCode project within OCC also offers a more basic course on IT Support & Security, which is designed by Google and powered by Coursera. The expansion of MigraCode’s course offerings was made possible through its partnership with INCO Academy, who gives scholarships to our students with a migrant or refugee background so they can take the course for free.

These scholarships are a great opportunity for people who, with no previous training or experience, are willing to start their career in the technology sector. Through its program, students gain the in-demand skills that prepare them to be job-ready and, once completed, receive a Google-licenced Professional Certificate. The possibilities then are many: not only do students have the perfect foundation to start the advanced MigraCode course on Web Development to continue their training in tech but also they can already look for a job and apply for basic to advanced tech support roles. 

However, some students choose a third way: volunteering for the course to make it more effective for incoming student batches. This is the experience of Akram and Abdul, our volunteers at OCC who completed the INCO course and, after graduating, decided to spend volunteering time helping the MigraCode team support the students and manage the course. 

Both Akram and Abdul joined the OCC/ MigraCode team in July 2021 as long-term ESC volunteers. While Akram has been involved in many activities, including teaching Arabic at the Language Lab, organising events and sports, and supporting the Youth 4 All project, Abdul has supported MigraCode students and classes every week since he arrived.

Akram speaks about the experience of being first a student and then a volunteer. He started the course in September 2021 and finished it in January 2022. He explains that he applied for the course “in order to get more information to apply for the Web Development bootcamp”. “It was a bit challenging because there was a lot of content and problems to solve as exercises”. He says that he needed help sometimes, so it was extremely helpful to get it from volunteers with more experience. This is why he later became one. 

During the volunteering, he was “mainly supporting the students and arranging meetings with them during their studying process”. When being asked about the experience, Akram thinks that it was “really interesting, as I learned how to communicate with students and pass them the information and knowledge I previously acquired with the course”. “It was both useful for them and for me! I learned a lot as well since I was giving but also receiving information at the same time”, he concludes.