Porto Tech Hub is accepting applications to its SWitCH IT requalification program aimed at people who are looking to change their careers.

With a price tag of €2,850, SWitCH is a requalification program for those who want to acquire competencies and skills for a full and fast integration into the job market as an IT professional.

Interested parties may fill out the application here.

Aimed at people who already possess a bachelor’s degree, the program applies agile practices and learning interactive processes to provide to its students a solid, yet fast comprehension and application of software development skills.

After the first nine months, all the students with positive grades will start a paid internship in one of the companies associated with Porto Tech Hub (partner companies).

The SWitCH program process involves:

• A careful selection of the candidates
• 1 school year (32 weeks of classes)
• An innovative pedagogical approach based on project based learning
• A barebones approach, focusing on the minimum content necessary for the
students to be successful in the typical professional environment
• A semi-professional work environment based on teamwork, peer-learning and
Scrum
• Focused and intensive: 35 hours/week

The SWitCH Program Structure

• Two 16-week semesters
• Up to 30 students/class, 9-10 elements/group
• 35 hours/week workload
  • 15 hours/week of regular classes
  • 15+ hours/week of autonomous work in a scrum team
• 3 simultaneous courses each semester
  • 1 core software engineering and programming course
  • 1 technical course covering key supporting technologies and competencies
  • 1 project course to develop a product for a client

Porto Tech Hub is a not-for-profit association of tech companies that aims to promote and grow Porto as a global technological centre of excellence.

Read More: Porto Tech Hub Conference to focus on ‘jobs and tech of the future’ in May

The association promotes a variety of initiatives and events throughout the year, designed to explore how technology can be used to develop individuals, businesses an the wider community in Porto. The highlight of the calendar is the Porto Tech Hub conference.

The association was created by three well-established tech companies, each one with strong connections to Porto: blip, CRITICAL Software, and Farfetch.

Farfetch was Portugal’s first unicorn, valued at over $1 billion in 2015.

Read More: Portugal Has A New Unicorn

In April Farfetch launched its latest program, Dream Assembly, a new accelerator for startups in the area of ​​fashion and technology.

Read More: ‘Entrepreneurship democratizes the realization of dreams’: PM Costa at Farfetch launch

Davor Hebel, managing director and European head of Eight Roads Ventures, credited Farfetch, along with Portuguese startups Uniplaces and Feedzai as a reason for investing in Portugal’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.