Pipedrive, the easy and effective sales CRM for small businesses, announced the relaunch of its unique internship and mentoring program, School of Code. The 3-month program is designed for people with modest to no programming experience and a strong motivation to start a career in the tech industry. The aim is to strengthen the link between educational achievement and real-world experience and enhance career opportunities for young people.
“The digital transformation of the world is moving extremely fast. It is a business opportunity for many companies; however, adopting new technologies tends to increase the learning gap in ICT education. Without hands-on practical training, it’s disproportionately harder for young people to enter the job market and keep up with the competition. In the thirteen years we’ve been in business, one of the secret components of Pipedrive’s success story lies in finding the right balance between hiring experienced and junior software engineers. Today, approximately every sixth developer in the company is a junior, bringing lots of new energy and ideas to the table. At the same time, the wealth of knowledge of experienced team members helps execute projects smoothly and impeccably,” said Mykhailo Dorokhov, Engineering & Development Lead at Pipedrive.
“School of Code is a great way to give back to the community and empower young people at the beginning of their career paths. Comprising two months of creative study and one-month hands-on work experience, the program encourages young people to explore software development in a safe learning environment, gain practical experience and fuel their careers in the tech industry,” continued Dorokhov.
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Pipedrive’s School of Code was launched as a pilot program in 2022. Out of 241 applicants, eleven people embarked on an educational journey at Pipedrive. Ten people completed the program and Pipedrive hired two to join the team as junior developers.
“I have always been interested in software development. Despite learning programming a little bit in high school, I decided to major in International Studies and Business Administration and started a career in financial auditing. But I still had an interest in software development. When I saw the opportunity at Pipedrive, I knew I had to seize it. I loved the balance between theoretical and practical approaches, and how tasks were often connected with real-life examples or tools used in the company,” described the program Egle Tannenberg, one of the first season’s participants and now a software developer at Pipedrive.
The second season of Pipedrive’s School of Code starts in Tartu, Estonia, in September 2023 and lasts three months. Under the guidance of two mentors, Mykhailo Dorokhov and Alo Aasmäe, the participants will learn programming basics, databases, back-end and front-end development, project management, and DevOps. In addition to learning the basics of software development, the internship and mentoring program enables participants to practice teamwork and collaboration and solve problems as close to actual work experience as possible. Pipedrive takes up to 8 participants and the program is paid. In addition to this program, Pipedrive continues with joint internships and collaboration projects with local universities.
