“It’s for people living in Whanganui looking to upskill in the tech space. It’s a really nice, short programme, so they can get ready for the workforce without having to do a three or four-year degree.
“Once they get the qualification from the programme, they can work as an entry-level developer for a company and continue to upskill on the job.
“The average salary for junior software developers is $65,000 per annum. Within six years, that average is about $100,000-plus. It’s quite a nice pathway to get really high-paying jobs.
“You can work for US or overseas companies, and get that high-paying salary, while still living in Whanganui and enjoying all the awesome stuff that our city has to offer.
“After this pilot, Dev Academy’s goal is to eventually hire a local tech teacher to run the entire course in Whanganui - face-to-face - with pastoral care, and mentoring.
“At the moment, the programme is well-established as an online programme. Ever since Covid in 2020, they’ve been offering the entire course through real-time online delivery, in addition to the in-person campuses they’ve previously run. That gives a perfect opportunity to deliver the course and work online while also having local people in Whanganui on the ground to help them out.
“The youngest student they’ve had is 17 years old and the oldest is 62 years old, so the programme is well-suited to people from a whole range of different backgrounds.
“The sweet spot is people who are mid-career, looking to upskill - they might have already trained in a different area or had work experience in a different area.
“Then they can learn how to code, using some of their existing life skills to either start their own business or move into a company.
“It works equally well for people who are fresh out of high school, or they might have done a couple of years at university and want to take a different direction. It’s also a good way to live in Whanganui and have lower living expenses and then save for something like buying a home,” Clark said.
Reuben Osborne is a local Dev Academy graduate who lives in Whanganui and works remotely for Shopify.
“Dev Academy was easily one of the best things I’ve ever done and changed my life in ways I couldn’t predict,” he said. “I walked out with confidence in my ability to learn - which is a very liberating mindset. Usually, all that is between me and my dreams is time and effort,” said Osborne.
Jayne Hamilton grew up in Whanganui and now lives in Queenstown, and works remotely running her own web development business. “As a 30-something Māori woman, I thought that a career change and learning a completely new skill like coding wasn’t for me,” said Hamilton. “I’d always been interested in technology and problem-solving, and I was looking for a challenge that I could apply my interests.”
“My life has been positively impacted - I am working fully remotely building websites, which is what I set out to do. The learnings I took away from the course were impactful with how I approach a problem,” she said.
There’ll be a Whanganui information session and networking event from 6pm-8pm on Wednesday, July 26 at The Backhouse, 28 Taupō Quay, Whanganui.
Web info: devacademy.co.nz/whanganui.
