A few weeks back, I met up with Mark, co-founder with the We Code IT Academy (WCIA). Mark studied IT and has a varied experience in the IT Industry in Germany, boasting more than 15 years of work in web and software development, coding, system integration and so much more. Mark has been offering coaching and mentoring career programs in the IT area, with great interest in working with persons with migration biographies in Germany.
And with an annual turnover of 178 billion euros as of 2021,the IT Industry is a major economic driving force in Germany, and it is growing steadily. With over 1.3 million skilled workers at the end of 2022,the IT Industry is also the second-biggest industry employer in Germany. Increasing digitalization generates tens of thousands of new jobs every year, but many positions still remain vacant due to the shortage of skilled workers. That is why international IT workers are particularly in high demand in Germany. ‘’You too can become part of this dynamic and innovative industry in German!’’. Mark exclaimed. The Germany ICT market will further grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12.58%, and it is estimated to reach a value of approx.306.77 billion USD by 2027 making Germany a hub for someone seeking more expertise in making it out in a career in IT.
Mark is captivated by the aspect of integrating the knowledge and experience he already has and helping to coach other people who could be future colleagues, and he uses such perspectives through interactions with diverse groups of people he has come across with all over the world.
When I asked him what allured him to do this, he said, ‘’after all these years working in the IT industry and travelling the world and meeting a lot of people from different backgrounds, I realized it was time to give back to communities, especially the underprivileged ones.’’ adding, ’’ I met so many people seeking for opportunities.’’ He was fascinated by this and in 2020, and with a few conversations with his IT experienced colleagues in Germany, We code IT Academy was born.
Since then, WCIA has sought to help newcomers with migration backgrounds, who are seeking to acquire a career in IT in Germany. For instance, providing career coaching to a young person from Uganda or Ghana or anywhere else who wants to know more on the best ways to learn web development. And thanks to our sponsoring partner DATEV the project We Code IT Academy is able to carry out the current program “consult an IT Expert”. ‘’You will be readily helped by an expert in the IT field in Germany to coach you,’’ Mark said. He continued,’’..ever wondered why so many people receive many rejections on their job applications? Poorly written CVs! And we have helped and advised our mentees from working on basics like making a good professional CV using software applications like Canva to improving and updating their LinkedIn profiles.’’, What a way by giving this expertise to people really seeking for this help.
When I asked him of what makes a good coach, Mark interjected, and said that one of the prerequisites for the coaches is being empathetic, open-minded and of course having experience in the IT area is a great asset as well.
Nevertheless, when I inquisitively inquired on how he came up with the coaching process for WCIA and how on earth he made it possible to start such a life changing project, Mark exclaimed,’’Oh man! It took years to come up with this idea. We started career coaching alongside web development courses in 2020. We did mentorship programs, on board training courses, and guiding people through scrum processes and having them to work in IT for two months whilst taking note of different measures made after each process and offering everyone a tiny piece of experience from the experts in the IT field.’’
Simultaneously, he told me that WCIA is not only helping an individual to do the next step, but also how to do it. ‘’We can also offer to guide someone in need of other further mentorship advice like how to join boot camps, Ausbildung, a Duales Studium, university or even advice on typical student jobs in the IT industry’’. In our first coaching he even showed me an impressive overview of the German education system regarding IT: wecodeit.academy/edu-into-it
Mark would typically advise an Ausländer (newcomer) looking into this field to get onto the keyboard. ‘’Practice! Practice!’’, he said. He went on to say that since this area of work is more practice oriented, self work on your computer will make oneself more efficient.
Additionally, he advises on making your own projects and making them more visible to potential employers. Besides, a good letter of motivation and a good professional CV will be tremendously helpful to your job applications. And with his motivation to help someone out there, he said that founding WCIA is one of his most fulfilling aspirations. ‘’I am very privileged to work in the Germany IT industry with good working conditions, job stability, good incomes, but I also realized that I am more of a people oriented person and not only a tech nerd, but also helping people into this area of study and professionally and proactively doing it through helping migrants is very satisfying for me.’’, he added.
In a nutshell, I was curious to ask him further on what he would opt to be if he woke up into a vegetable today! “Haha!’’, he exclaimed, and went on saying,’I would wish to be an avocado’’, continuously talking of its rich nutrients and different flavors!! Expect to get the same experience by signing up for free IT career consultancy with We code IT Academy’s programm Consult an IT Expert!
Sign up for free consultancy at WCIA: wecodeit.academy/consultancy