Northern Virginia Community College is pleased to announce the graduation of its first cohort of Uncommon Coders. Following a competitive application and interview process, this first cohort launched in early February. The group of ten students has spent 60 to 80 hours a week for the past 12-weeks in an accelerated on-site program designed to train veterans and give them the valuable coding skills they need to enter the very in-demand field of IT coding. Students have learned Java coding language, giving them the skills they need to move up in the information technology workforce. The program is focused on veterans, transitioning service members, military spouses and veteran spouses.
NOVA Workforce has partnered with the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) to work with local and regional employers to learn their workforce needs and to help meet them. The partnership resulted in publication of the Northern Virginia Workforce Needs Assessment which identified a strong demand for individuals with soft skills, coupled with technical skills in coding languages, such as Java. NOVA is taking an industry driven approach to ensuring employers have the talent pipeline they need to remain competitive in our regional economy.
Uncommon Coders was developed to meet the growing demand for programming-related jobs in the D.C. metro area, while also equipping local talent with the skills they need to get hired. NOVA Workforce hired The Iron Yard, a nationally-recognized coding and programming boot camp provider to support instructional aspects of the program.
Businesses in the D.C. metro region are expected to add 22,000 new jobs in the technology sector over the next ten years, a figure that does not account for vacancies left by retiring workers. As of April 2017, there are more than 25,000 information technology vacancies in the region.