Terminal’s TA Academy Launches New Careers in Tech Recruiting

A career change can drastically alter a person’s life. It can grant them better work-life balance, easier commutes, lower stress levels, and more advantageous compensation. But changing careers can also be daunting; often when someone wants to change their careers, they must take time off from earning an income to retrain or endure a pay cut to make up for their lack of experience. 

Terminal is trying to change that. Last year, Terminal launched TA Academy, an intensive program geared at helping people from outside of recruiting and tech gain the experience they need to try an exciting new industry. TA Academy is a paid six-week, fully remote training program that introduces participants to the world of tech startups and helps them develop skills and expertise that will allow them to launch new careers in talent sourcing and tech recruiting. The program culminates in job offers at Terminal for successful program graduates.

“When people look at starting a new career, most people ask, “How am I supposed to get experience without experience?’” says Roksi Rivera, Talent Acquisition Programs Manager at Terminal.  “This program answers that question.”

Terminal’s mission is to bring global opportunities to talent, and Terminal’s TA Academy is an expansion of that mission. “Our program welcomes anyone who has a genuine interest in helping others,” says Karine Roy, Head of Learning and Development at Terminal. “The program’s tagline is, ‘Land your dream job while helping others find theirs.’ Terminal has been helping engineers land their dream jobs since our founding, and now we can bring that experience to people who want to work in tech acquisition.”

TA Academy is unlike other tech training programs because it doesn’t exclusively target fresh college graduates. Instead, the program is designed for anyone looking to start or change careers. “We want people to feel comfortable leaving a job, so this is a paid training program in which they are guaranteed a job at the end if they are successful,” says Jenn Farris, Chief People Officer at Terminal. 

The program’s first cohort graduated late last year with a 100% success rate and included participants changing careers from a wide variety of industries and backgrounds, including nursing, service, insurance, automotive industry operations, and social media marketing. 

A second TA Academy cohort started this month, bringing a fresh group of participants into the world of tech. Unlike other training programs, TA Academy teaches important soft skills such as communication, collaboration, presentation skills, remote productivity and more. The training course is rooted in Terminal’s values – “People first,” “Win as a Team,” and “Awesome Is Standard.”  

“This program is as much about learning the best practices of technical recruiting as it is about learning ‘the Terminal Way,’ a fundamentally different approach to recruiting from any other company,” Jenn says. “From start to finish, we aim to make sure all candidates understand and see Terminal’s values in action.” 

What makes an ideal TA Academy candidate?

Roksi says, “We’re talking about making a major career change. Candidates should have an ability to jump in and dig in. Professional curiosity and self awareness are very important. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.”

Karine says candidates should have a willingness and passion for helping people and a growth mindset. Jenn says candidates should be self-starters with personal momentum and initiative. Interest in tech is a plus. 

“This is a rare opportunity for candidates to put themselves on a different career path and get in-depth technical training. No other company has done this to this degree,” says Jenn. “We’re excited to continue breaking down barriers to opportunity for talented people around the world.”

Email taa@terminal.io for more information about applying to Terminal’s TA Academy program.