Tapping into a Drive to Excel

In the Abasto neighborhood of Buenos Aires, the headquarters of Puerta 18 , an NGO focused on job training and placement in the tech sector, is abuzz. In the main room, a group of students encircle 3D printouts for an art project, while others sit at computers practicing programming. A duo records at the sound studio in the back, while an IT class commences at the computer lab in front. Colour and movement are everywhere, and in the middle of all this is Daiana, 18, a recent participant of Puerta 18’s EMpower-supported programme that trains youth in IT and life skills, then supports them with job placement.?

Though humble about her accomplishments, Daiana is ambitious. She finished the programme’s first stage (technical and life skills training), but she’s not currently enrolled with the rest of her cohort in the second stage (intensive job training). She went directly to the third stage (job placement). She secured an internship with inversiones representaciones y asesorias gedesa sociedad anonima (IRSA) a large Argentine real estate and investment company.?

“I wanted to begin [working] in this world of tech...I didn’t think it would happen so fast,” said Daiana.

She finished high school last year, then started at Puerta 18 in April. In September, she began interning in the quality control department at IRSA.?Daiana has long been capable of excelling. She began studying Argentine martial arts at nine-years-old, earned a second-degree black belt, and began teaching the discipline at a young age. But she did not have the same zeal for learning in school.

“I didn’t study as much in high school as I did at Puerta,” she said. “I didn't pay as much attention.”?

One subject stood out for her in high school though: a digital photography course. She took it her senior year, and it sparked her interest in tech. Shortly after, a friend sent her an Instagram post advertising Puerta 18.???

The programme consists of three progressive stages. The first stage provides students with short courses focused on IT and life skills. In the second stage, they can choose between a programming track or a digital marketing and content development track. In the last stage, students are assisted with job placement and support, including being assigned a mentor in their profession.?

Daiana came to the Puerta 18 headquarters and listened to an introductory talk about the programme. She was interested not only in the tech skills, but employability skills she could learn as well. “I wasn’t sure how to begin applying for internships...I was looking for a job,” she said. She decided to apply and was accepted.?

In April, she started the first stage with an introduction to programming course in which she designed her own webpage for jewelry, learning how to create both the front and back end of the site. In July, she began the Trabajo para Crecer (TPC), a creativity course whose name means “work for growth.” In TPC, the students learned skills for employment, like how to write a CV and how to utilise LinkedIn to find jobs. They also learned life skills, such as public speaking and how to work as a team.??

“The creativity course helped me learn a lot…about myself…and think hard about who I can be,” Daiana noted. “We learned how to speak in a way that doesn’t just describe but focuses on the reason for why we do something.”??

After she completed these initial courses, she took several more, including user experience design and personal finance, to complete the first stage. She planned starting the programing track of the second stage, but then IRSA offered her the internship after she applied to several internships with the support of Puerta 18.?

Throughout the hiring process and now in her internship, she cites skills she learned at Puerta 18 that equipped her for this role: how to conduct herself in an interview, how to communicate with people one-on-one for quality check calls she makes with clients, and how to work on a team with the mentor she has at IRSA.?

She still visits Puerta 18 once a week as her internship is located in the same neighborhood.

“I like the atmosphere, and the people who are here,” she said.?

As for the future, she plans to begin university next year to study computer systems. Her internship will finish in February, but she hopes to stay at IRSA, if they offer her a position.?