Graduate Profile: Jenell Weitz

Before the pandemic put our world into shutdown, Jenell was working at a small translation services company as a Project Coordinator and Office Manager. Although she had enjoyed her job, she felt that it was time for her to try something new. 

When her husband’s job search brought them to Denver, she seized the opportunity to make some big changes to her career. Jenell hadn’t always had an interest in tech, but through the Denver Public Library, she heard about a program called Code Forward sponsored by Devetry. Jenell was able to attend a free coding fundamentals course that provided her with some basic understanding of DevOps and how applications worked and were set up. She completed the full course and was even able to get  some hands-on experience in coding projects.

As she completed the program and began her job search, Covid precautions began emptying offices and halting hiring processes. Despite that, Jenell pushed on, inquiring where she could, about possible opportunities to put her skills to work when she heard about ActivateWork’s tuition-free IT program from a friend. 

Jenell joined ActivateWork and finished her full-time, 15-week IT support course in April 2021. On the day of her ActivateWork graduation, Jenell was able to meet with S&P Global and secure her current position as an IT technician, supporting the team’s financial applications to streamline processes and ensure compliance to company policies.

“I probably wouldn’t have gotten this job without them,” she recalls. “They really helped me develop my soft skills and the mock interviews were extremely helpful.”

Jenell says she loves that she can bring the skills she learns back home to share with her husband and children. 

Jenell says she really enjoys working at S&P Global and that it is nice to have people whom she can relate to personally and professionally with. She looks forward to taking advantage of the educational programs her employer offers to upskill.