VALI IT!

„Vali IT!“ program is a 3,5-month intensive hands-on sofware developer training that focuses on retraining professionals in other disciplines by providing them with basic software developer skills.

All trainees have passed the Tripod spatial ability test with high results, have shown strong motivation in the interview round, have higher education and long-term work experience as a specialist in the IT external sector. The training focuses mainly on the Java programming language, the Spring framework, the construction of SQL statements, the working principles of Git, and the effective use of IntelliJ Idea.

Participants must complete 6 weeks of full-time study (5 days per week, up to 8 hours per day). This is followed by an 8-week (40 working days, up to 8 hours a day) internship in companies.

It has also been possible for smarter students to start an internship in a completely new development environment (not Java based) and get a job later.

The retraining program “Vali IT!” trainees are taught to:

• design the product (application, system part) and its architectural solutions;

• write the program code;

• integrate the created applications with other system components;

• test applications;

• implement and install solutions;

• document solutions, manage document (and system) sequence changes;

• participate in both independent and team-based software development work;

• participate in the development process in different ways and roles.

The project was established in 2016 and funded at the start by the European Social Fund support scheme “Enhancing Digital Literacy”. The project period has ended, but the Company BCS Koolitus has been keeping the project going. But as the students are getting hired by IT companies after the 3.5-month-long retraining program, it feels very much a needed project. The essence is the short time frame and the eagerness and motivation of the students.