How it works
Experience the Technology Workplace Before You Enter It.
Zeroth Round replaces passive career exploration with guided participation. Learners join a simulated project, take on real responsibilities, collaborate across roles, and understand how work moves through a technology organization.
The model
Five stages. One real workplace.
Simulate
Enter a structured workplace scenario based on a realistic product or business problem.
Discover
Explore technology roles, responsibilities, tools, handoffs, and dependencies.
Contribute
Complete work aligned with an assigned role instead of watching a generic demonstration.
Reflect
Receive feedback and identify strengths, skill gaps, and areas of interest.
Launch
Translate the experience into a focused career direction, stronger professional examples, and a practical next-step roadmap.
Cross-functional workflow
How work actually moves through a technology organization.
Nothing starts with code. Work travels a path, and every stop belongs to someone. Inside the simulation you see the whole path — and your place on it.
- 01
Business need
Someone in the organization has a problem worth solving.
- 02
Requirements
The need is written down in language a team can act on.
- 03
Planning
Work is sized, sequenced, and assigned across the team.
- 04
Design / Build
The solution is shaped and then built piece by piece.
- 05
QA
The work is tested against what was actually asked for.
- 06
UAT
The people who requested it try it themselves.
- 07
Stakeholder review
Decisions, trade-offs, and results are presented.
- 08
Launch
The work goes live and the team looks back on it.
What participants may produce
Deliverables, not just participation.
Everything produced inside the simulation is yours to show. Employers rarely ask what course you took — they ask what you have worked on.
Exact deliverables vary by program, participant role, and delivery format.
- Project brief
- Requirements document
- User stories
- Sprint board
- Wireframe or design
- Working component
- Test plan
- Defect or iteration log
- Stakeholder presentation
- Individual career roadmap
Why it counts
What makes this Work-Based Learning?
The work has context
Every task traces back to a business need, not an exercise invented to fill a lesson plan.
Participants hold defined roles
You are assigned a role with real responsibilities, and you are accountable for that part of the work.
Teams depend on one another
Your output becomes someone else's input. Handoffs, blockers, and dependencies are part of the experience.
Tools support actual workflows
Boards, documents, and reviews are used the way technology teams use them day to day.
Deliverables represent workplace contributions
What you produce looks like professional work product, not coursework.
Feedback and reflection connect to career decisions
Structured feedback turns the experience into a clear read on where you fit and what to build next.
For organizations
Talk through how this fits your school, workforce program, or team.