Alberta Tech Job Secrets
Alberta Tech Companies
Alberta enterprise published the ‘Technology Deal Flow’ Study in September of 2016. This is ‘A study on the stream of private ventures in Alberta’ and points out the strong growth in the target market for the boot camp.
Market Survey
We conducted a survey of IT employers in our target market to help us design our boot camp. Some of what we found confirmed what we thought before hand- but a lot of things surprised us.
1000 Unfilled Tech Jobs in Alberta
2018-03-19 EDMONTON - Nimble Programmer, an Edmonton vocational training school, is applauding the introduction of Bill 2: The Growth and Diversification Act on March 14
Hottest Skills of 2018
Linked in survey shows tech and collaboration skills are some of the most in demand across ALL types of companies.
Alberta's First Software Boot Camp
You will be part of a revolution in software education. There were an estimated 18,000 boot camp grads in 2016- more than 4 times the amount in 2014. (Source: Switchup.org). Nimble Programmer is bringing this to Alberta with our first cohort running 12 weeks, Sept 5 to Nov 30, 2018. You can learn more about boot camps at www.switchup.org or www.coursereport.com.
Where you can get your start
"Alberta is projecting a labour shortage of computer and information systems professionals by 2025, as well as a shortage of software designers, programmers and developers." The Alberta government announced a scholarship program as well as support for transition to tech related careers on Mar 14, 2018. ( More info here ) Our Web Development Bootcamp is aimed at getting students a start in small software companies, including startup companies, and digital marketing agencies (ie. web design and implementation companies). These companies tend to use more innovative technologies than the large corporate market and tend to have more flexible hiring standards that do not automatically require degrees or diplomas and many years of experience.
Employers look for good programmers
We found that our target market employers primarily look for 'good developers' rather than a specific qualification or credential. We look for students that have demonstrated some programming skills going into the course. Examples: Self-taught programmers including recent high school graduates; Learned coding on small projects at work; Pursued hobbyist/ individual projects; Have hardware or micro-controller experience; Learned coding for a university or other post-secondary course project; Digital media experience; Experience programming on older systems; Degree/Diploma in computing but lack modern coding skills
Learn More Than Software Skills
Our boot camp is a way to learn not only the skills but also the attitude and approach that it takes find your first job as a programmer. You will develop the confidence to take on new projects with software tools that in many cases have just been released.
Technology with a market focus
We conducted a survey of employers in our target market to see what skills they would like to see in a new hire. We designed a comprehensive course around the feedback we got from employers.
You will learn the 'full stack'
We teach the 'full stack' which means coverage of programming from the database and server end ('back end') through to the javascript code used on the PC or mobile browser to interface with the user ('front end'). We include SQL database and programming theory. We also cover project and teamwork techniques that are common in the industry and were identified as a key requirement by employers in our survey. Students also work on projects of their own choosing.
Who uses Ruby on Rails?
We use Canadian software success story Shopify to power our secure store and they use Ruby on Rails. It's also used by Groupon and AirBnB, GitHub, ZenDesk, Bloomberg . Startups like it because it's often the fastest and cheapest way to make a product: in Edmonton people like Jobber and Granify!
More Details
Tuition $9500 plus $300 for books and your own laptop
Academic High School Graduate or Equivalent with Grade 12 Algebra
English Canadian Language Benchmark 11 (Stage III Advanced Language Ability – Adequate) for Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Other tests may qualify.
Attend our open house
We have regular open house events which include a presentation on the course and a Q&A session. You can also ask us a question any time : send an email to info@nimbleprogrammer.com
Take an Introductory Class
Game programming is a great way to learn a language because you need to consider things like code efficiency, memory use and stability as you create game scenes at 60 frames per second. We have a short course available that lets you study on your own time. We give you the challenge of creating your own game on either this tiny mini system or your own laptop. Send an email to info@nimbleprogrammer.com if you want to take this class or want some direction in learning enough programming to take the course.
Feedback from the 9 hour Ruby Class
Dust off that portfolio or create one
You'll be glad you did. Education is just one part of what employers look for. Employers that we talk to emphasize need for people entering the program to have created software on their own, beyond coursework and school projects. It can be anything, in any language or platform but either more than one smaller project or just a single larger project is a prerequisite. Show us what you did and tell us how. Don't have a portfolio? - take our Ruby class (email us and ask) and make something or check out something like 'Ladies learning code', other hackathons, 'Learn Ruby the Hard Way', etc.
Register for Classes and Events
We care most about your success
Doug is the owner of Nimble Programmer has had a long and successful career in software development. (Center- this photo taken in same building as our classroom and an example of the spaces students have access to.) We are licensed under the private vocational training act and listed in the Alberta directory of post secondary institutions. Talk to us about the thought and care that we have put into the design of this program. Click here for application process. You can email us: info@nimbleprogrammer.com or call at 780 417 6439. Also, join our email list at the bottom of this page to receive our newsletter and find out about events, classes and open houses.