From September this programme is available on a fee-free basis to jobseekers under both the Springboard and Momentum programmes.
By her late forties, Sandra Couch had reached a stage in her life when she wanted new challenges and a complete change of career.
“I wanted to set new goals for myself and to ultimately set up my own business and work for myself”, she said, “so I decided to come back to college.”
Sandra decided on the Certificate in Web Development at National College of Ireland, her decision being swayed by the college’s central Dublin location and smaller size.
“I wanted somewhere where I would have good access to the lecturers and be able to get the support that I needed,” she said. “I didn’t have a computing background at all and I was initially concerned about my abilities. However, I was absolutely delighted with the help that I received at NCI. The support from the lecturers and academic staff was outstanding, with additional revision classes and workshops provided outside the standard classes.”
The course spans 13 weeks and covers areas including web design, HTML, multimedia and more. The class also worked together on a website project which Sandra found both interesting and challenging.
“I was really amazed with the website we created,” she said. “If you had showed me that at the start of the course, and told me we would achieve something of that level, I would never have believed it. I was delighted with the skills I acquired and what I was capable of creating at the end.”
Sandra’s advice to those considering a similar course would be:
“Just do it. Don’t let fear put you off. If you don’t have the background or qualification in computing it really doesn’t matter. There is ample support available to help you succeed, so just go for it. It was one of the best things I have ever done.”
A version of this article first appeared in the Sunday Business Post on September 1st 2013.
