[video:http://vimeo.com/101541754]
In a move consistent with Galvanize's dual educational and entrepreneurial goals, gSchool announced an exclusive apprenticeship program with agile software development firm Pivotal Labs today.
Denver-based Galvanize launched gSchool—an immersive program that teaches developing skills to newcomers in six months on three different campuses—last year. With a 98 percent placement rate and a guaranteed starting salary of $60,000, the program’s graduates are already flourishing. But Galvanize wanted to let gSchool students take advantage of its opportunity-rich environment. The apprenticeship program with Pivotal Labs does just that.
“We’re trying to make working and learning synonymous,” Galvanize co-founder and CEO Jim Deters said. “At the end of the day, employers all want real world experience. Pivotal is highly regarded as one of the best software development companies in the world.”
Galvanize and Pivotal’s relationship goes beyond gSchool—Deters’ previous company, web content management Ascendent Technology, was a competitor to Pivotal. He saw the innovative ideas and methods like pair programming used by Pivotal and recognized the value for new developers in working side-by-side with the “Pivots,” as well as having Pivotal engineers as instructors.
This partnership isn't just valuable for gSchool students when they pair with full time Pivotal engineers on real contracts, but for the whole local tech community: after all, a tech community only works if there are enough developers to support it.
“To have them be both part of our teaching process...we’ve been partnering with them since the beginning, building in a little bit of the Pivotal experience into our programming,” Deters said. “And now we want to formalize this way to get our students literally real-world experience.”
“We’ve always been fans of the gSchool program,” Edward Hieatt, COO of Pivotal Labs, said. “In fact, Pivotal Labs engineers already serve as instructors in the gSchool program today and further, some of the gSchool faculty are former Pivotal Labs engineers and have been responsible for shaping the curriculum."
The current gSchool class, happening at the Denver campus, is in its eighth of 24 weeks. In about a month, the students will pioneer the apprenticeship program as they are matched with developers. The plan is to expand the apprenticeship program across the other gSchool campuses in San Francisco—which is accepting applications for its inaugural class this fall—and Boulder.
This formalization of the partnership is just one change that the gSchool team has made since its launch. The intensive curriculum, which students can expect to spend 60 hours a week on, has been updated and revised to work better with educational needs and high-level new faculty. But one of the most important details, Deters said, is the environment in which this all takes place.
“Context matters as much as the content. On the gSchool campus, you’re surrounded by hundreds of entrepreneurs and engineers and developers,” Deters said. “The entrepreneurs and startups on campus become part of the learning process. A VP of Engineering will be holding office hours and mentoring people because they’re in close proximity. If you have the skills and the experience, what’s the next thing you need? You need a network.”
This network is enhanced through the Pivotal apprenticeship, and through the more than 150 companies and startups housed at Galvanize.
“You’re not learning in some nondescript conference room in some suburban area,” Deters said. “You’re learning on a campus surrounded by other entrepreneurs, engineers, and venture capitalists, all in one melting pot.”
