Hawke's Bay tech company offering the opportunity of a lifetime

Software developer Courtney O'leary (left) and Tier 2 support specialist Luke Badger work together to find solutions.

Could Hawke's Bay be New Zealand's very own Silicon Valley? By the number of tech companies operating in the region - possibly.

Unfortunately for this burgeoning industry, the demand for highly skilled employees far outweighs the local supply - an opportunity that local property tech company Re-Leased has decided to rectify, by beginning the search for determined Hawke's Bay people looking for a change of career and a challenge.

Based in Ahuriri's tech hub, Re-Leased creates innovative commercial property management software. It was established in 2012, and has grown to have more than 120 employees in six offices in four countries, retaining Hawke's Bay as its head office. With further significant expansion plans into the future, Re-Leased global recruitment manager Rachael Chetty says the company had decided to "invest in Hawke's Bay, and grow the local pool of highly skilled, highly employable people to continue to fuel this fast-growing industry".

Partnering with New Zealand's premier, full-immersion web development boot camp specialist Enspiral Dev Academy, Re-Leased will be hosting a 15-week intensive coding course in its Ahuriri offices - fees free.

Hawke's Bay courses start in September and January next year, and promise to "take people with some or no programming experience and turn them into world-class junior developers". This is the first time the boot camp, which ordinarily costs $10,000, will be held in the region.

While the idea of coding and software development may seem daunting to some, Rachael assures that it is, in fact, a job for anyone.

"The ideal software developer is anyone who loves to problem solve. Someone who loves to collaborate, is curious, hard working and brave".

Enspiral Dev Academy promises it does not base admissions on programming experience, and you do not need to be good at maths or science to excel in the field of web development. But because culture is at the heart of everything it does, it looks for students who will work well in a team and who fit their three core values — integrity, kindness and effort.

The decision to work alongside Enspiral Dev Academy was an easy one, says Rachael. "Enspiral Dev Academy is nationally recognised as the leading web development rapid learning provider in New Zealand, with alumni working in all types of companies, from small startups to tech giants."

Re-Leased already employs one graduate from The Dev Academy, Courtney O'Leary. Previously a customer experience specialist at Xero, Courtney had always loved computers and technology, and knew his long-term career was not in customer service. He describes the course as "an amazing learning experience which completely changed my career. Despite reports on the gruelling nature of the course, I was pleasantly surprised. The course was both enjoyable and hugely practical and it set me up well for my first role."

"The course isn't a walk in the park", states Re-Leased global head of engineering Tony Schollum. "It is 15 weeks of fulltime study, and then some, but for the person, or people, who decide to take the leap, the potential long-term gain far exceeds the short-term pain."

Tony says by learning alongside a working development squad in the Re-Leased offices, students will "have access to real-world, real-time projects, availability to on-site mentoring and a foot in the door to one of New Zealand's fastest-growing software companies".

Employment at Re-Leased is not guaranteed, however, with Hawke's Bay's booming tech industry, the jobs are there for the taking. "

As Courtney O'Leary says, "If you want to change your career, just get in there and do it. No one else is going to do it for you."

The application deadline for the January intake is December 1. For more information on the course and recruitment process, go to www.devacademy.co.nz, or follow the event on the @releasedproperty Facebook page.