As Infoware Studios opened its doors in November 2011 it was entering an already competitive market in the tech and agile consulting space. With the skills shortage then already prevalent in the technology space during that time, ranging from 17 - 25%, it caused salaries of staff to be driven up. This made it tough for smaller businesses to compete, as smaller businesses often get 'squeezed' on price by customers (another sad dynamic in the industry, but that is a topic for another time). Tania van Wyk de Vries, CEO of Infoware Studios thus had to look at creative ways to get junior to intermediate skills delivering on commercial projects, while learning and growing, through tutorials, mentorship and peer reviews, to increase skills and experience. Infoware Studios realised they were onto something magical here.
Infoware Studios then proceeded to extract the secret ingredients discovered during these experiments for the Digital Geekaship training programme, combined with the frustration about the quality of technical skills being produced by secondary and tertiary institutions as well as Infoware Studios' experience during interviews for entry into its programme where there was a realisation that the current education system, secondary and tertiary, were setting up these individuals for failure in the workplace, to form the Digital Geekaship as known today.
During the launch of the 1st publically accessible programme in September 2014, Infoware Studios took in three people to run a small test pilot, using its own produced programme structure and content, to see how the Digital Geekaship training programme could work in assisting the industry to access more skilled technical resources.
Infoware Studios are proud to say that all three people have found work and are still employed to date.
Infoware Studios kicked off its second programme in September 2015. Twenty-three people joined the programme. Nineteen of the 23 people were placed within the industry on completion of the programme. This gives the Digital Geekaship programme a 85% success rate to date in enabling people to find work once the programme is complete.
Over and above this Infoware Studios have taken-in another eight people with various levels of experience, who did not have work before they joined Infoware Studios, totaling contribution to job creation at 34.
Created job opportunities for people without jobs: 34
Increase earning potential 4.88 fold: 49
Infoware Studios are proud to say that outside of the skills it manages to instil within each individual joining its environment, it also substantially increased the earning potential (4.88 time increase in monthly earnings) on average of each one of the individuals that entered its programme from 2014.
Here are some figures across 12 people till date:
Total monthly earnings before start: R5 000.00
Total monthly earnings on leaving or after joining: R22 750.00
Infoware Studios would like to thank all the partners that have worked with it up to now. It would not have been possible without the involvement from you.
Currently Infoware Studios do not consider employment from outside software developers that have between four to six years' experience. Infoware Studios has found that due to the vast amount of experience obtained within the Infoware Studios environment, these individuals lack the skills and capability of software developers that have worked within the Infoware Studios environment for 18 - 24 months.
For more information about the programme and to apply visit http://www.digitalgeekaship.co.za/apply or contact the graduate programme administrator, Mokgadi Ntlhane via e-mail on info@digitalgeekaship.co.za.
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