Deep Dive: What Is the Catalyte Software Developer Program?

Technology is advancing rapidly and more businesses are adopting tech solutions to remain competitive. However, this has created a significant skills gap in the tech industry as the demand for trained workers far outweighs the supply. 

While addressing the labor shortage, it is likewise imperative to balance the diversity gap in the industry. Gender representation in tech, for instance, is skewed to favor the male gender, with only 24 percent of women occupying technical roles in big tech companies. 

Catalyte is working to tackle both gaps in the tech industry. Its software developer program discovers untapped tech talents from diverse backgrounds and trains them into experienced software developers at zero cost. More so, it provides all graduates with apprenticeship opportunities where they can polish their skills by handling real client projects.

What Is the Catalyte Software Developer Program? 

Catalyte has a software developer program designed to discover and develop people who have the potential to succeed in tech. It seeks to answer the question, “Is this individual going to be an excellent software developer in the future after undergoing relevant training?”

Catalyte was founded in 2000 by Michael Rosenbaum, an economist and lawyer, who was then an adviser at the White House. At the time, Bill Clinton’s government was developing policies to drive economic growth. Rosenbaum argued that discovering and harnessing tech potential among lower-income communities could be the key to massive economic growth.

So, he moved to Baltimore and started Catalyte to prove this concept. He used AI technology to select individuals with the most potential to be successful software developers. This premier cohort comprised people from diverse backgrounds like sales attendants, physicists, vet assistants, and many more. After completing their training, they showed excellent efficiency, speed, and productivity.

Catalyte has since continued to discover potential tech talent and train them to become skilled software developers, helping create a more productive and diverse tech industry.

What Can You Learn from Catalyte’s Software Developer Program?

Catalyte’s software developer program is a self-paced, remote program that takes between 12 to 26 weeks to complete. Quite often, trainees with prior knowledge finish faster. But, you don’t need prior experience to succeed in the program.

Catalyte’s curriculum teaches various in-demand technical skills plus other interpersonal skills required to succeed as a developer. The associates learn to become full stack developers and polish skills that help them thrive in any tech position. These interpersonal skills include communication, professionalism, problem-solving, project execution, and self-improvement.

The curriculum consists of several modules, which are split into three parts:

• Part 1. The first three modules are completed on an individual basis. This allows participants who have previous programming knowledge to complete these modules in an expedited manner. At this stage of the program, you will learn programming languages like HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, and how to work with databases. 

• Part 2. After completing the first part of the training, the curriculum dives into setting up web servers and front end frameworks using Scrum and Agile. These modules teach students to work together as a team, just as they would on a real-world client project. 

• Part 3. At the end of the program, the trainees complete a final project which involves developing a functional software application from scratch. The final project is an individual effort. The learning process, however, does not stop with the training. They get hired as apprentice software developers by Catalyte where they continue to learn under the supervision of coaches. 

The software development training also equips students with the foundational knowledge to further train in other tech disciplines like quality assurance, DevOps, and data engineering.

Who Is Catalyte’s Ideal Candidate?

Catalyte is ideal for anyone who wishes to join the tech industry, regardless of their prior experience or skills. Quoting Adam Curtis, Catalyte’s communications director, the company cares less about what you have done and more about what you can do.

In other words, you don’t need a college degree or a tech background to apply and succeed at Catalyte. All you need is the desire to learn, plus the potential to succeed. People from diverse career paths who wish to switch into software development are also encouraged to apply.

Why Should You Become a Software Developer with Catalyte?

Catalyte’s software developer program comes with several unique benefits. The program provides quality training to trainees and employs a hands-on approach to boost understanding and experience. 

Driven by four significant values—Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Quality (DEIQ)—it hosts a vast and diverse learning community. The program features several other exciting features like expert instructors, zero-dollar tuition price, and job guarantee, among others. 

Learn from Expert Instructors

With over two decades in the industry, Catalyte has gathered a rich experience with training people into software developers. It employs the apprentice-master learning model, giving trainees first-hand experience with handling real-client projects. 

Catalyte also embraces the feedback and mentorship culture where trainees get frequent advice and assistance from teaching assistants and coaches. 

The instructors and coaches are expert developers and they help the trainees through whatever challenges they may encounter with learning to code or while carrying out a project. 

Free Developer Program

The zero-dollar price tag attached to Catalyte’s training is a remarkable and unique feature. There are no upfront costs, hidden charges, ISA agreements, or loan repayment plans. This provides equal opportunity to all trainees regardless of financial circumstances. 

Usually, a career switch comes with several risks. Several bootcamps place a high price on their training, making it difficult for many to access their training without getting into debt. Also, they often do not guarantee that the students will get a job after. Catalyte’s free program, along with its job guarantee feature, drastically reduces the risk for the trainees.

Job Guarantee After Training

After the cohort ends, all graduates are hired as apprentice developers at Catalyte for two years. They work directly on client projects, building applications, websites, platforms, and systems for top companies during that period. 

The apprentice developers continue to advance their technical and interpersonal skills under the supportive mentoring of Catalyte coaches. Five years after graduating, Catalyte developers earn an average of $98,000/year.

Unique and Diverse Community

Catalyte strongly believes that a more diverse technology workforce results in higher-quality output. The learning community also features people from various backgrounds like baristas, bartenders, teachers, construction workers, PhD candidates, and more. 

Altogether, about 48 percent of its graduates didn’t have a four-year degree when they joined Catalyte, while 77 percent did not have prior tech employment experience. 

Recognizing its effort towards creating an inclusive and diverse tech workforce, Microsoft named Catalyte as its Inclusion Changemaker Partner of the Year for 2021.

Take Catalyte’s Developer Screening and Get Started Today

As much as it impacts the tech industry, Catalyte is also transforming people’s lives through its mission. So far, it has helped over 1,000 people launch software development careers. 

Ninety-eight percent of graduates said Catalyte helped them obtain their first job and 85 percent said their careers have far exceeded or are in line with their expectations after the training. This proves the effectiveness of Catalyte’s methods compared to the more traditional methods. 

It does not see your educational or professional background as a criterion for hiring trainees. Instead, attitude, aptitude, teamwork, and grit are what counts. The two-hour screening process measures how well you can handle complex problems.

With this caliber of opportunity that Catalyte provides, you are a few steps away from launching a software engineering career. Debunk all fear and take Catalyte’s screening today.