The professional programmers training was in the framework of “Developing IT human resources in Thua Thien Hue province” project which was implemented by Phu Xuan University in collaboration with Department of Information and Communications and Department of Planning and Investment.

A testing session in the curriculum of the programmers training course

Training along with enterprises’ needs

By September 2019, the fourth professional programmers training course, held by Phu Xuan University in cooperation with IT enterprises, came to an end; and notably, 100 percent of learners graduating from all 4 courses had landed jobs.

A newly-graduated student, Ngo Phan Anh Nhat, shared: “As soon as I finished my course, I was recruited for a work trial by 3S Company with 7 million dongs per month. In spite of the fact I was totally in the dark about IT at the beginning, I found IT was not that difficult after joining the training course”.

According to the survey, most learners who completed the programmers training course were acquainted with the job quickly. Representative of DEHA Software Vietnam – Hue Branch Nguyen Quang Trung assessed: “Normally, it takes about 2 months for the new employees to be trained more on knowledge and skills, but it takes just nearly a month for those who graduated from professional programmers training course in Hue, and they have approached the jobs quite actively.”

The training program for professional programmers in Hue has just commenced since January 2019, but it is assessed as a promising program for human resources development in the IT field. The reason is that this training model is associated with the reality of IT enterprises, particularly enterprises located in the province.

Training director of CodeGym Vietnam – Hue Branch, Le Tuong Phuc said: “Although it was a short-term training course, the training model was quite modern. Each course lasted at least 4 to 5 months (8 hours per day for full-time course) or longer (4-hour-per-day course). Learners must take 3 professional programmers training courses in PHP, java, and net core (programming languages).

“The program’s admission was students graduating from high schools, but it was not low-quality because of that. We conducted two rounds of testing: computer familiarization process and direct interview to evaluate critical thinking, motivation and training ability. Applicants meeting all the demands are eligible to join the training course”, Mr. Phuc emphasized.

According to the representative of the training unit, the program framework was surveyed and commented by IT enterprises in Hue and in the whole country, in accordance with recruitment needs and employment practices in enterprises. The theory only accounted for around 20 percent of the course, forcing students to engage in self-study, and the remaining of the course mainly focused on practice.

The difference of the professional programmer training course was to allow learners to familiarize themselves with the working process of the enterprise in order to adapt immediately after graduation. Due to the high pressure, elimination properties were inherent in the training process.

“About 20 percent of the trainees dropped out of the course because they couldn’t catch up with it. Despite being short-term training, learners had to study nearly 1,700 hours and had to daily experience a fairly heavy workload to form the habit”, Mr. Phuc added.

Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Le Truong Luu awarding certificates and gifts to graduates (September 2019)

Dealing with the IT human resources problem

At the closing ceremony of the professional programmers training course (September 2019), Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Le Truong Luu highlighted: “The province's goal is to build Thua Thien Hue towards rapid and sustainable development; and one of the top priorities in the province's development strategy is to develop IT and software industry. In order to reach that goal, it requires a well-qualified workforce.”

For a long time, the lack of IT human resources has become a difficult problem for IT enterprises. Director of the provincial IT Center and Chairman of the provincial Software Industry Association Le Vinh Chien admitted that he had invited IT enterprises to Hue many times but they had been hesitant because of Hue’s deficiency in human resources. So as to attract large IT enterprises to Hue, solving the aforementioned problem was a must.

The professional programmers training course shows promising prospects, including dozens of employees supplementing the IT workforce in Hue. According to Rector of Phu Xuan University, Dr. Dam Quang Minh, it is expected that there will be more than 300 to 500 new programmers at IT companies in Hue by 2020. Therefore, the problem of human resources that IT enterprises set out will be solved.

Story and photos: Huu Phuc