We don't place talent, we enable it.

Tell us about you...

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the Purpose

The purpose of The Software Residency is to give ambitious early career developers a clear path towards technical leadership, by integrating mentorship and hands-on learning into their day to day work.

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Who is the ideal candidate?

You are not new to software development; 6-36 months of work experience, demonstrate ambition, an eagerness to learn, and a high capacity to work. Selection is based on being a good fit for the program and partnering company. Most importantly, an ideal Resident is a professional on a clear path to technical leadership and/or engineering management.

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Hiring is risky. Onboarding is tough. Training is expensive.

Building an internal tech team is full of gotchas. And to limit those new hires to "senior" folks leaves out thousands of exceptional junior and mid-level people. There's a better way, and we can help. So, let's build your team, together.

Questions? Learn more...
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How does the Residency work?

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12 Months of Curriculum

There are 12 modules of curriculum which you will be exploring along with other Residents in the program. At the end of the 12 months you will have been exposed to many of the foundational knowledge areas needed to excel as a software engineer.

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Residents are Employees of the Company

Residents are employees of the partnering company during the program period, with the intention to continue on after the program concludes. You can be an existing internal employees who is looking to level-up, a newly hired developer, or are looking for a position that we are assisting to hiring.

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Residents are Paired with a Mentor

For the duration of your Residency, your mentor works directly with you, guiding your focus, learning, and work. You will work side-by-side on various company projects to ensure that learning is happening, process is followed, work is delivered completely, and high quality standards are met through the length of the program.

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Career Growth and Professional Development

A portion of the your time is focused on shaping ongoing career growth and professional development through educational mentorship and one-on-one coaching. Eventually completing the program and possibly becoming a mentor yourself.

WE FOLLOW THE CLASSIC MODEL

Learn it. Do it.

Teach it.

The most effective method of learning is immersion. It's the act of putting information into use that makes it so impactful. We built the Software Residency around the idea that we learn best when we do real work. But it doesn't stop there. We integrate what we learn by teaching others. Through the process of "learn it, do it, teach it," - we develop expertise.

How is the Residency Program structured?

Residents dedicate four days a week (32+ hours) to work on project(s), supported and guided by a mentor. Through direct mentorship, Residents are guided through real-world approach to building scalable software. Throughout the program Residents will develop tangible replicable skills. Focus areas include:

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    How to run successful recurring planning meetings, daily stand ups, and reflection meetings

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    How to breakdown large features into small defined increments

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    What successful pair-programming strategies look like

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    How to communicate successes and challenges to less-technical stakeholders

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    How to present complex ideas to technical and non-technical people

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    How to adapt to changes in technology

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    How to craft quality code in a scalable and maintainable way

Residents spend one day each week (~8 hours) reinforcing their hands-on learning at LEARN academy through educational mentorship, ongoing professional development, and one-on-one career coaching. of developers-in-training within the classroom. Residents receive a significant amount of training and support to strengthen them as model professionals within their organizations including:

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    Professional One-on-One Coaching - 2 - 4 hours/month

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    In-Person Trainings on Self Management, Leadership, Communication, Team

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    Building/Relationship Development, and Documentation & Optimization Topics

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    Professional Development Plans (PDP) with Monthly Check-Ins led by the partnering organization

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    Mentorship of LEARN students (new developers)

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    Team Management Practicum - Managing the Development Process

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    Outside Learning Events - 1/month

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This internship has shown me the different parts of a tech company as well as the different roles within a development team. It has been a very warm and friendly environment to grow and learn in and I am so thankful for the time I got to spend with the Zeal community.

MARY REDLINGER
LEARN Alumni
Mary Redlinger
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We focus on why and what over how

Through direct mentorship in both technical and professional growth, we guide each Software Resident through the habits and practices of agile development, architectural decision making, and effective in-person and remote collaboration with product owners and fellow developers.

We use immersion more than lecture

With a hefty focus on the career progression of a software developer, each Resident is paired with an experienced mentor. Both the mentor and the Resident are part of the same project team, working together on real world problems and delivering features.

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We encourage mentorship to embed knowledge

One day a week, we turn the tables and the Resident becomes a mentor themself. Under the supervision and with direct support from our expert instructors, each Resident spends time with code school candidates mentoring them on the same habits, practices, and architectural decisions they're immersed in throughout the week.

Emma Castor
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Everyday I’m exposed to new content. I’m participating in code reviews on a daily basis. Learning is accelerated through immersion, and I’m progressing exponentially faster than I would be trying to learn on my own.

EMMA CASTOR
Software Engineer and Former Apprentice
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Representation Matters

As pointed out in a recent Forbes piece, “The people creating this technology have the power to influence how it works, and that’s too big a responsibility for any single demographic to have full control. A lack of diverse ideas and representation could lead to further disparities between gender, race, and class.” Cultural diversity is at the heart of society, and it must also be at the heart of those technical teams reshaping the landscape of the world.

Representation Matters

As pointed out in a recent Forbes piece, “The people creating this technology have the power to influence how it works, and that’s too big a responsibility for any single demographic to have full control. A lack of diverse ideas and representation could lead to further disparities between gender, race, and class.” Cultural diversity is at the heart of society, and it must also be at the heart of those technical teams reshaping the landscape of the world.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you involve our design / development team?

Yes. The Software Residency is available to pre-existing teams of developers. If your team includes potential mentors, we can adapt the program to incorporate them into the mentorship training portion, ultimately bettering the entire team.

Is the Residency for designers and developers?

We strongly believe designers are pivotal to a successful development experience; however, at this time, Residents are software developers. We can integrate an existing design team into the program as mentors and domain experts.

Are the residents local to my company or remote?

The Software Residency is remote first. We can work with Residents and companies throughout the US.

What does the hiring process look like?

Hiring is a collaboration between The Software Residency, the partnering company, and the candidate. There is an initial outreach to fill the candidate pipeline. We then do an initial screening to check for overall fit. If everything is looking good you will move on to a technical interview which will be a pairing exercise with a mentor. The next step will be an interview with the hiring manager. Ending with a potential job offer.

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Start the Process

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The first step is to tell us about who you are and we'll reach out and schedule an appointment.

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At gap, we have over 10 different web and mobile applications that are written in 6 different languages and use various different frameworks. It was quickly apparent to the gap prod development team that Emma's experience at LEARN and ZEAL gave her the comfort level needed to approach complicated business logic or new technologies with confidence. She also perfected her communication and collaboration skills due to the regular pairing she did at LEARN and ZEAL which is not a skill set that many developers offer.

Jenny Pletner
Software Engineer @ Gap Intelligence
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Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap,
but by the seeds that you plant.
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
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Get in touch by email

[email protected]