The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development estimates that there will be about 75,000 tech jobs that need filling in the state of Minnesota over the next decade, reports Alex Wittenberg in the recent Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal article, “Help Wanted Minnesota: Why Minnesota Isn't Producing the STEM Talent It Needs.”
The article features local business and technology leaders who address the critical need for tech talent in Minnesota. Among them is Tara Wyborny, Director, Junior Talent Programs, at Genesis10. Here is an excerpt from the article:
Genesis10, a New York-based professional-services firm with a Twin Cities presence, is helping to fill the tech-talent gap by fitting recent graduates with technology skills. Genesis10’s Dev 10 program, which trains students in software development, will have graduated about 70 people in the Twin Cities by the end of the year.
"We’re taking STEM-degree students who aren’t studying computer science and putting them through a rigorous selection process to see who will succeed as software developers," said Tara Wyborny, director of the Dev 10 program. "Just because you have a STEM degree doesn’t mean you can be a software developer."
Part of the program’s selection process assesses how well candidates work in teams and deal with ambiguous tasks, Wyborny said. To her mind, these skills are much more difficult to teach than coding skills, yet at least as important to a software-development career. This holistic approach also allows Genesis10 to help diversify the talent pipeline.
The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal article is the third installment of Help Wanted Minnesota, a special editorial project that is exploring workforce shortfalls in-depth in several key industries while looking at efforts to close gaps in those sectors.
Genesis10 ranks third on the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal Twin Cities Largest Management Consulting Firms list for 2018. It’s the fourth consecutive year that Genesis10’s Minnesota office places in the ranking at number-three.
Learn about Genesis10’s Dev10 Program.
Tara blogs at Genesis10. Read: Dev10 Makes Software Developer Careers Happen
Also read: Creative Approaches Needed to Grow Workforce Capacity, Genesis10’s Ami Sarnowski Tells Star Tribune