European coding bootcamp launching in Dublin with €40,000 worth of free scholarships for female coders

Wild Code School is launching in Dublin this week and is offering five full scholarships to women interested in becoming coders.

Founded in France in 2014, Wild Code School offers five-month coding bootcamps aimed at meeting skills gaps in the tech sector in a rapid and responsive way. 90% of graduates are working in the tech industry within six months of completing their Wild Code School course.

Since opening its first campus in the outskirts of Paris five years ago, Wild Code School has expanded rapidly, and now operates campuses in 24 locations across Europe. The organisation has trained over 2,000 developers to date, with two main courses offered: Web Development and Data Analysis.

Dublin Campus

The new Wild Code School campus in Dublin will be located at The Digital Hub in Dublin 8. Applications are now being accepted for the campus’s first intake of trainees, with the inaugural five-month Web Development Bootcamp beginning in January 2020.

Commenting today, Marek Wystepek, Dublin Campus Manager, said: “Students come to Wild Code School from a variety of backgrounds. Some are professionals seeking to retrain and reinvent their career. Others are jobseekers or returners – people who have been out of the labour market for a period of time. And then we also attract school-leavers, graduates and entrepreneurs.

“The average age of our students across Europe is 30 years old but, overall, our students range in age from 18 to 58. One of the beauties of our model is that we don’t look for any specific entry qualifications. It doesn’t matter what points you got in your Leaving Cert – or if you never sat your Leaving Cert. Applications are accepted purely on merit, with applicants required to complete some online exercises and an on-site interview to assess their suitability for the course. Successful applicants will then complete their training at our Dublin campus.”

Scholarships for Female Coders

To coincide with their Dublin launch, Wild Code School has teamed up with the Dress for Success Dublin charity to offer five full scholarships to women interested in becoming coders. The scholarships are worth €7,800 each.

“Dress for Success is a local charity, focused on helping women to access employment opportunities and establish sustainable careers,” said Marek Wystepek. “It’s a perfect fit for us because we’re keen to attract more women into coding, and also to highlight the amazing job opportunities that exist in this sector.

“It is estimated there are approximately 12,000 unfilled IT roles in Ireland today, and we know this is a career path with really excellent prospects: junior web developers can expect a starting salary of around €33,000, and that typically doubles within five years.”

Sonya Lennon: “Tailored Training Model”

Commenting on the partnership with Wild Code School, Sonya Lennon, founder of Dress for Success Dublin, said: “As an entrepreneur and businesswoman myself, the model of training offered by Wild Code School hugely appeals to me. It is extremely tailored to industry needs, and places a strong emphasis on soft skills – in particular, teamwork and communication. This means graduates leave Wild Code School not only with the technical skills employers are seeking, but also with excellent interpersonal skills. This makes them highly employable.

“Dress for Success Dublin is all about supporting women into the labour market and ensuring they can establish sustainable careers in the long term. We are delighted to partner with Wild Code School because we can see the very tangible opportunities that exist for women considering a career in coding.”

Currently, 30% of students on Wild Code School programmes across Europe are women. “In Ireland, I’d love to see us reaching a 50/50 gender balance,” said Marek Wystepek.

From Musician to Coder: Case Study of an Irish Graduate

While Wild Code School is only launching in Ireland this week, Irishman Dermot Boyle has already graduated from the Bootcamp programme – in Madrid.

Having worked as a musician and music teacher for 10 years in Spain, the Derry native decided to retrain as a coder, attracted to the IT sector by the higher pay rates and flexible working conditions on offer.

“I did the five-month intensive coding course with Wild Code School in 2019,” said Dermot Boyle. “The course is very practical because it’s only through ‘doing’ that you can learn to code. As well as the coding elements, there was a strong focus on the soft skills required to work in coding, such as understanding the client relationship dynamic. So, although it’s short, the training programme is very holistic.”

After completing the course, Dermot secured a job with an app development agency and now works as a front-end developer in Madrid.

“I have freedom now like I never could have had in teaching,” he said. “And, while the hours are shorter, my salary has also increased dramatically, and there’s almost no stress. What I expected of a career in coding, I got.”

Full details of the scholarships being offered by Wild Code School in Dublin are available at http://wildcodeschool-2902314.hs-sites.com/women-scholarship-dublin.

For further information on the general application process for Wild Code School, go to https://www.wildcodeschool.com/en-GB/trainings/web-developer-full-time?campus=dublin.