DETROIT – ExperienceIT, an innovative collaboration between leading information technology-focused organizations and workforce agencies in downtown Detroit, honored 43 students today who have completed the inaugural eight-week training programming.
A graduation event was held this morning at the Qube Building at Campus Martius. To date, 26 graduates have already accepted full-time positions with partner companies as job interviews continue.
The IT training initiative was originally founded by Quicken Loans, GalaxE.Solutions, Title Source, Fathead, Marketing Associates and WIN (Workforce Intelligence Network), though ExperienceIT now also counts among its latest partners: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, DTE, Grand Circus, Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation and Tanner Friedman Strategic Communications.
“It has been quite rewarding to see our students learning new and vital hard and soft tech skills as they moved through our core curriculum to completion,” says Linglong He, CIO of Quicken Loans and ExperienceIT Chair. “These individuals represent the future for our region and technological innovation in general. As we continue to build Detroit’s IT hub, we want these individuals to stay here for rewarding careers and lives.”
Designed to transition students from the classroom to the workplace through real world IT projects, mentorship and training, ExperienceIT students learn in a working environment using technologies such as .Net, Java, SQL Server, MY SQL and PHP. Soft skills such as those related to interpersonal communication, working in teams and job interviews are also key components of the updated core focus. Classes ran eight hours a day, five days a week over the two-month program period.
A call for students for ExperienceIT’s second class is expected later this fall in advance of an anticipated spring 2015 classroom start.
