The making of… Young Talent! A look behind the scenes of the first Tec Digital bootcamp

The first Tec Digital bootcamp has finished! And not just any bootcamp, but a .NET bootcamp! After 3 intensive training weeks, both participants and teachers look back positively on the entire process. At Tec Digital they have been chanting “hire for attitude, train for skill” for years. With this bootcamp, the company put words into action, because the most recent knowledge of .NET coding is still not current in the schools. This way they close the gap between the needs of the business world and the educational offer.

 Peter Cornelis, HR coordinator of Tec Digital in Ghent, looks back on 3 intense weeks .NET Core with a satisfied and proud feeling. ‘For some time we were convinced that we needed to start an internal training program to balance the supply and demand for passionate IT talent. By targeting young people with brains and the right attitude, we succeed in making them valued experts in a very short period of time. As always with the launch of a new concept, the greatest challenge is to win a first major customer for your story.’

Right from the first contact, we felt it click between Tec Digital and the IT department of the House of HR company. Moreover, House of HR had a current need for .NET experts and the rest is now history. Happy customer: check!

Hire for attitude, train for skill – from concept to the real thing

Ultimately, House of HR did more than just ask for .NET experts. Tec Digital and House of HR discussed the key question: ‘What are the must-have skills for a .NET expert?’ The result of these brainstorming sessions was a generic training of at least 3 training weeks, completed with a final exercise.

Peter also explains: ‘We soon knew that we would choose .NET Core – because of the need for .NET Core expertise among customers. Ultimately it became a combination of .NET backend, Angular frontend and the necessary Azure, DevOps and cloud computing practice. This knowledge is not yet current in the curriculum of the average IT training. Offering this training with an informative boot camp, you just can’t get closer to hire for attitude, train for skill.’

And the Tec philosophy? It matched perfectly with the participants. ‘It quickly became clear how diverse the group was. Young people who all had found their way from different sectors to development. We wanted to prepare them from the start with this bootcamp for a challenging job and a lot of happiness at work. Of course, each participant already had a basic .NET knowledge – that’s also a requirement to participate – but were still missing a lot of expertise when it came to cloud and Angular. But at Tec Digital we believe that passion and a “screw it, let’s do it” mentality are just as important to achieve your goals.’

The adventure begins!

After the training, the adventure really starts! On his first assignment, the Tec Digital consultant can put his acquired knowledge into practice. Typically in the IT world, assignments can easily take a year or more. After the end of this first assignment, the consultants start on assignments for new clients, and this naturally also increases the consultant’s seniority level.

There is a great future for the Tec Digital bootcamp, Peter confirms. ‘This .NET bootcamp was a first. We are now going to work on the lessons we learned from the first edition. Specifically, we want to organize a bootcamp twice a year, in February and October. For the rest, we are completely free in the elaboration. Future bootcamps may therefore be aimed at other types of consultants, or offer different programming languages.’

‘An intense but valuable process’

Not so long ago, Britt (28) opted for an impressive career switch, from a sales assistant in a chocolate shop to a life as a .NET developer at Tec Digital. This bootcamp turned out to be an excellent step.

The biggest rookie in the group, but unrivalled in terms of thirst for knowledge. ‘The intensity made it tough at times, but persistence pays off. That is especially true with Tec. The .NET bootcamp was a good preparation and a valuable investment in the future. I learned many things that were hardly or not at all treated at school and I am now reaping the benefits of that at my client Accent. In addition, it was also a great group, which now works entirely for the same customer. That way you are not completely alone during those first weeks, that is also worth a lot.’

‘The process is well organized’

Chris (24) found his way to IT from the printing business. Via a bachelor of applied informatics where he only successfully completed the programming courses, he ended up at the .Net bootcamp.

‘The level of the .NET boot camp turned out to be varied, from easy topics to more advanced topics. That made it all interesting of course – precisely because this is how we can make a difference for our customers. In any case, we are well prepared for any situation at each customer, and ultimately, that is our goal. I also thought it was good that after the bootcamp Tec Digital provided follow-up and support. Our opinions and experiences really counted. Clearly, the process has been well thought out.’