Evgeny Shadchnev and Robert Johnson: Makers Academy

Evgeny Shadchnev and Robert Johnson, both 34
Company: Makers Academy
Web: www.makersacademy.com

Technology has come to dominate our lives, and there are now very few jobs that don’t require some degree of digital skills on a day-to-day basis. As such, having coding and software development expertise puts you at a serious advantage in today’s highly competitive jobs market.

However, for jobseekers, learning those skills can be intimidating, and, for businesses, finding suitably qualified candidates can represent a major drain on time and resources.

Enter Makers Academy, the highly selective web developer bootcamp. The business was founded by Evgeny Shadchnev and Rob Johnson when they realised the deficiencies of computer science programmes in teaching coding: “they were training people to become computer science professors instead of programmers”.

Started in February 2013,  Makers Academy has now taught more than 1,000 people from around the world to code, either at its London location or online through Makers Academy Remote.

The course was designed by industry experts to introduce its students to the most-used technologies in today’s marketplace and to equip them with the necessary skills to find their first job as a junior developer. Only around 8% of applicants are accepted onto the course, with 24 people completing it every four weeks.

Clients simply explain what attributes they are looking for to have specific candidates matched for an interview, only paying the £5,000 fee when they make a hire.

Four years since launch and now over 300 companies in the UK have used Makers Academy to fill software engineer roles including gov.uk, the BBC, Thoughtworks, Deloitte Digital, HSBC, Softwire, Pivotal Labs, FT, The Economist, ITV, and News International to name a few. It looks like Makers Academy has cracked the code!