First Job
A sixteen-week telecom and IT course for school leavers, ending in a placement and a year of mentoring.
4,800
Graduates
71%
Placed in 6 months
12 mo
Mentoring
Why it works the way it does.
- Where
- Uttar Pradesh
- Running since
- 2020
- Stage
- Scaling
- Programme
- Education
First Job exists because certificates do not pay rent. The course is built with the employers who hire from it, and it is judged on one number: how many students are still in the job at twelve months.
The syllabus is deliberately practical - network fundamentals, field practice on real equipment, workplace English, safety, and the parts of professional life nobody teaches, like what to do when you cannot finish something on time.
The last four weeks are placement: interview practice, travel money, employer introductions. Then a mentor for a year.
The design decisions.
- 01Syllabus co-designed with hiring employers, reviewed twice a year
- 02Practice on working equipment, not simulations
- 03Travel and interview costs covered
- 04Twelve months of mentoring after placement
4,800
Graduates
71%
Placed in 6 months
12 mo
Mentoring
38
Hiring partners
The organisations this runs with.
- Dollu Ltd
- Employer partner network
- ITI and polytechnic partners
Part of a wider programmeEducation and youth skillsComputer labs, teacher support and a route from a government school into a technical job that pays.
Uttar Pradesh · ScalingConnected ClassroomsA connected, maintained computer lab in every government secondary school in the districts we work in.
Bihar · ScalingDigital DidiWomen trained as their village's paid digital helper - the person who fills the form, makes the claim, spots the scam.
Odisha · RunningSignal in the StormPre-staged emergency communications in cyclone-prone coastal districts, ready before the season starts.
Fund First Job, or something like it.
We will tell you exactly what a contribution covers, what it does not, and what we will report back to you and when.
