Carlos | Chile
Carlos is a 25-year-old Full Stack Java Developer who, after graduating from Generation Chile’s program in 2024, has been a local Alumni Ambassador: “I feel like not only the program changed my life but all the experience and connections I made and continue to make because of it. That is why I won’t miss a chance to tell my story so more people can know about this opportunity and persist in changing their reality as well”, he proudly says.
Difficult Beginnings
Born and raised in Venezuela, Carlos migrated to Santigo, Chile, when he was 19 to seek a better life. His mom, who raised him and his two siblings by herself and worked as a manicurist, went before and convinced the rest of the family to join her in this new beginning.
His journey to Chile took 12 days by bus, and he did not expect the pandemic would make the already limited career options even more scarce less than one year after he arrived. But he persisted.
Carlos worked in various fields, from selling shoes to being a kitchen assistant and hotel concierge. His curiosity about tech careers sparked in 2022, and he began taking free courses and attending events while juggling these jobs to support his family.
A Turning Point
In 2024, he saw a post on Linkedin about the Generation Chile’s cohort sponsored by KoAndina and the Renca Municipality and applied for it. He got the yes, but the reality hit him hard with a tiresome routine: studying every day from 9am to 6pm and then working on the nights from 10pm to 7am as a concierge. “I thought I couldn’t go any further and that I had to give up. On top of that, a lot of personal family problems were happening”, he emotionally remembers. He talked to the social support team of Generation and had a click moment: “I am doing this for my future”. After getting financial and psychological support from Generation, he managed to get only the weekend shift and could concentrate 100% on the program from Monday to Friday.
“On the day I graduated, I got my yes for my first job in the tech industry. I could not believe it.”
Since then, the journey has had ups and downs; he did not have one of his contracts renewed and had to focus on some family issues, but he kept using everything he learned: “I am a problem solver. From my experience in the kitchen to my knowledge in tech, the soft skills I learned in Generation, all of this made me a professional able to do a good job and communicate well”.
He has been working at a new company since December 2024, earning 4 times more than his first salary in tech. Happy with his latest work and the possibilities ahead of him, Carlos does not hesitate to say, “My family is what motivates me.” On the last business trip to the south of Chile, he sent a picture to his mom that proudly replied: “Look at you. You made it!” While reading the message aloud, Carlos couldn’t hide a smile, reflecting pride in his journey.
