We love it when the door opens at the Digital Jersey Hub. You just never know who’s going to be next to step foot into our hive of activity. Among them, the students who’ve got their eyes set on a digital future where having the right skills at the right time matters to them.
We’ve completed our first coding course of the year which saw our seventh set of students graduate, and are just about to complete our second set for 2018 (our eighth set of students), it never ceases to amaze us just how many applications we get!
The course runs twice a year, for six months each time, and is for anybody wanting to learn the basics of web application development; could you be a part of our ninth set of students?
If you’re 16 or over and looking for that job after leaving school, perhaps thinking of a career change, or you recognise you lack a set of skills to take the next step within your current company, this programme could well be for you.
More and more people are seeing the benefit of upskilling, and while there are courses out there for those thinking of coding as a hobby, the Digital Jersey Coding Programme is specifically for those with their careers on their minds.
Matt Chatterley from Codentia in Jersey was one of the founding mentors for the programme and delivers some of the sessions. Something he loves doing and has seen successes as a result.
He said: ‘I know of at least two students who are now working in the industry as a direct result of our most recent programme. One former student has actually joined the mentor team to help support the next intake. Over the last three to four years we’ve had great success in placing people in to junior roles, some of whom are now maturing with time and taking on more senior positions in the technology industry.’
And that’s one of the key problems the programme is setting out to solve. There still aren’t enough suitably skilled candidates for junior and entry-level roles in many firms. Employers know that training somebody from scratch is a very intensive, very expensive undertaking. It means the candidates who complete the Digital Jersey Coding Programme have both the foundations and the proven commitment and aptitude – which in turn is addressing that skills shortage head-on.
Digital Jersey Hub Assistant, Natalie Reed, said: ‘We see people from a range of industries joining the programme, from those already in the tech field to those in hospitality who see the opportunities a change in career offers them. We look for learners who can show their passion through examples of projects they’ve completed or experience they already have. What I love most is that our students then get to work with mentors who can help them find the right work placement. We’ve got a great success rate, so everybody wins.’
The Digital Jersey Coding Programme lasts for six months with two-hourly sessions twice a week. It involves a mixture of classroom-based activity and self-taught study.
You’ll find details of the next course here.
