Can you tell us a bit about your background before joining TAP?‍‍

My major education was in industrial engineering, I learned some basics of programming from two courses in college. I was enjoying problem-solving and especially when the code I’ve written worked as expected, and became curious about discovering how that code could build real things and apps.

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I started my programming journey with Gaza Sky Geeks code academy, to be a full-stack web developer. And there I gained knowledge in Javascript, HTML, CSS, Node.js, PostgreSQL, and React. The academy had built my main coding experience, as well as helped me  accomplish training projects, experience teamwork, and develop self-learning and many soft skills.

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How did you hear about TAP?

From Gaza Sky Geeks. We had a session with GSG hosting TAP founders to introduce us to the program, its goals, and features.

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Why did you decide to join the TAP program?

The main reason for joining TAP is to experience how a professional workplace operates, to get more qualified and confident, and therefore increase my chances of getting a job in an international and innovative company. 

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What encourages me more is that the program also focuses on soft and business skills and career coaching, which I believe have a high impact on self-development.

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What did you find most valuable about the TAP program?

The most valuable thing in TAP for me is the combination of working on a real client project alongside taking soft skills sessions, and the great support from coaches and mentors.

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 Being in an Agile team project means communicating with clients and different roles in the team, learning from seniors how to share ideas and thoughts, and how to make a decision.

While soft skills sessions cover essential topics that add a lot at the general level, and as a developer in particular.

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The result of this combination is being aware of (project management, ownership, customer centricity, business communication) and much more aspects, reflecting those aspects on myself and my skills, evaluating my level in each skill, recognizing the chances of improvement, and starting taking real actions while working on the project. And finally, getting feedback from mentors and seniors about the progress in both technical and soft skills.

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To conclude, TAP for me was a self-awareness journey and a great guide on how to start my career in the right way.

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How did you find out about the opportunity at Monstarlab?

In the TAP program, we were participating in a client project. And I was a part of a team working on a project for Monstarlab. I started to search more about them, and recognized how much their vision and values fit mine!. 

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And fortunately, they decided to hold interviews after the program to hire TAP graduates.

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How did TAP help prepare you for the job interviews at Monstarlab?

During Tap, we were having two interviews per month, technical and soft. And getting feedback on how we could improve. This helped me to better prepare, and determine some technical topics to focus on.

Furthermore, these mock interviews helped me overcome my fear and enabled me to be calmer, less stressed, and more focused during the interviews with Monstarlab. I was able to explain technical concepts and communicate with the interviewers more effectively.

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How did you feel when you got offered the job at Monstarlab?

‍It was great to finally experience the feeling of accomplishment after all that time and effort, especially since it is my first job. I felt grateful for the Tap program, and Gaza sky geeks, who both had a key role in making this possible.

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"The program has helped me launch a career in a different field than my major education."

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How do you think TAP has helped prepare you for your new job at Monstarlab?

I believe that TAP helped me to be a better developer and communicator. I’ve gained knowledge from seniors and professionals, learned to focus more on code quality as well as time restriction and self-management, became more responsible but less worried, and more conscious about business environment requirements.

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I hope all these skills will help me to adapt fast to my new job, and to continuously self-develop.

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Would you recommend the TAP program to others? If so, why?

TAP is a great program for any developer who is not feeling confident or prepared for the working world. Both with their technical abilities and also their soft and business skills.

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TAP will give you that push and confidence, encouraging you to always evaluate yourself honestly, to be your own mentor, enable you to expand your network, help you determine the things that are most important to you in your future career and finally, help you find, and land, your first international tech job!

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