“SkillUp Has Given Me a Lot of Hope”

Meet Ron, a New York City resident and veterinary assistant interested in changing careers to focus on the IT industry. Ron gained career confidence through networking skills learned in a SkillUp/Social Capital Builders workshop. They also learned how to make professional connections in their desired industry confidently.

Ron’s journey with SkillUp began when they recognized their need for support during this exciting yet challenging career transition. By providing key resources, expert guidance, strategic learning programs, and networking opportunities, SkillUp supported Ron’s professional development.

I have a lot of doubt in this career change sometimes, and these skills that I learned through the programs with SkillUp really helped me to overcome that.

Hi, my name is Ron Ruiz. I am a veterinary assistant in clinical practice veterinary medicine, and I am using SkillUp to navigate a major career change into IT.

Before SkillUp, I really found myself at this roadblock of wanting to move into IT and into tech and not really having any resources, any sort of strategy of how to build these networks and build these relationships. I kind of just Googled, and SkillUp’s been on my radar for a few years. It really presented this cluster of opportunities for training and opportunities for jobs, and they have partnerships all over the country and with remote programs as well, which is really appealing to me.

SkillUp has actually taught me some of the questions to ask and some of the things to look for in a training program. Specifically with IT, it can be very overwhelming. There’s a lot of choices, so I really appreciate that SkillUp’s been able to kind of narrow some of those down for me. For example, the program that I’m in right now, it’s called the Social Capital Builders Program, and it’s really enabled me to learn strategies of not necessarily networking but really developing these mutually beneficial community relationships in a professional context. I can talk to IT industry professionals and build relationships where I never thought I could open that door.

I’m a first-gen Latinx person, and my mom never graduated high school. She doesn’t really know anyone in professional industries, and so I really have kind of had to wing most of my career, professional or otherwise. SkillUp has given me a lot of hope, and it’s given me a lot of confidence that I can get the skills I need to actually land that entry job that gets me in the door.

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