Make IT Work: practical breeding ground for up-and-coming IT talent
It remains a challenge for companies in the Brainport region: to find qualified ICT professionals. Supply and demand have been miles apart for years. And because of the corona crisis, the shortage has only increased further. Fontys Hogeschool ICT (FHICT) and Brainport Eindhoven are joining forces to tackle this problem. How? By retraining highly educated people without an ICT background to become an ICT professional (with a job) within a year. Companies such as Simac, KPMG and SAP are already participating in the project.
If you have to name one industry that has been boosted by the corona crisis, it is the ICT sector. 2020 was the year of the digital acceleration. This lightning-fast digitization appeals to an already tight market, making IT vacancies increasingly difficult to fill. The goal of the Make IT Work project? Closing the gap between supply and demand professionally and consistently. This by offering higher educated ICT talents the opportunity to develop into an ICT professional within a year at a (regional) company.
"Within two years, these professionals will have the same level of knowledge as ICT professionals who have followed a full-time higher vocational education"
In-depth knowledge
The aspiring ICTers are facing an intensive year. During the day and in the evening they immerse themselves in all facets of the profession. They combine this with a job in the business world, where they immediately put their knowledge into practice. The approach is to deliver a full-fledged IT employee after that year, with an appropriate level of knowledge and thinking.
The perfect combination of hard and soft skills
The Make IT Work candidates have already completed a career and that work experience comes in handy. They are not just starters, but experienced employees who know the ropes. They understand the art of combining the hard skills of in-depth ICT knowledge with social soft skills. And since a large part of the training takes place on the shop floor of the participating organizations, they grow on the job with the company and the corporate culture.
"Deze ICT-professionals verstaan de kunst om de hard skills van diepgaande"
Combining ICT knowledge with social soft skills
How Make IT Work works in practice? After a strict selection procedure, the candidates and potential employers are brought into contact with each other. Is there a click? Then the parties commit to each other and to Make IT Work. The aspiring ICT specialist is then trained within FHICT for five months. To this end, the most experienced teachers developed an appropriate, up-to-date teaching program in collaboration with the business community.
After the intensive training, the candidates start working for their new employer for at least six months to learn the tricks of the ICT trade in daily practice. They also broaden and deepen their know-how and their skills during three-weekly intervision meetings with fellow candidates. In this way they stay informed of the latest developments in the versatile field.
Therefore Make IT Work:
Interested in Make IT Work?
Are you eager to bring in new IT talent? But there is hardly any response to vacancies. Then Make IT Work could be the ideal solution for you (your organization). The Software Engineer training will start at the end of April. This training will be given again in the autumn and the Business & Data Analytics program will also start. Later, the training to become SAP Business & Data Analytics Specialist and Security Specialist will follow.
More information
You can find more information on the website fontys.nl/makeitwork. You can also register here for an introductory meeting with Daan Jansen, Make IT Work coordinator at Fontys.
