Silicon Valley startup training non-techies for tech jobs

SUNNYVALE, Calif. (KGO) -- With many people out of work and unemployment benefits ending, a Sunnyvale startup is helping train people for tech jobs, no experience needed.

Andrii Blyzenko had a career in construction sales and project management but when the pandemic hit he was laid off.

"They pretty much started cutting stuff, removing people from jobs and I got cut off as well," said Blyzenko.

Most of his clients were in tech and for a while he had been curious about how to break in.

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"How to get in IT, how to get in IT? I asked everyone," said Blyzenko.

Blyzenko isn't alone. When Max Glubochansky moved to the Bay Area from Israel, he also wanted to know, how do you land a job in tech?

"As an immigrant that came to the United States and I was not really sure what to do after having a B.A. in business from Israel. I found an article from Forbes about the happiest jobs in the U.S. and QA testing was named one of those," said Glubochansky.

After attending a boot camp and ultimately breaking into the industry, Glubochansky started helping friends and family do the same.

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"After a while more and more people started approaching me and asking for help," said Glubochansky.

Soon he realized he had a business idea. He and his co-founder created careerist. The online company trains individuals with no tech background for tech jobs, sets them up with an internship and helps them submit dozens of applications daily.

"You don't need computer science, you don't need programming languages, you don't need a technical background," said Glubochansky.

Participants have the option of paying approximately $3,000 one time up front or paying approximately $900 up front and then 15% of their subsequent job salary before taxes for two years.

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On occasion, Glubochansky says he charges nothing to prospective students experiencing great hardship.

He estimates graduates earn $65,000 to $100,000 a year.

Blyzenko is one of those graduates.

"Once you get in this industry you have the opportunity to grow," said Blyzenko.

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He's now working at Google as a software quality assurance engineer.

"It's super awesome," he continued.

A Silicon Valley startup helping train techies for jobs that are readily available, even during the pandemic.