What is an Employer Influenced Curriculum?

At Codeup, students get a curriculum that sets them up for success after graduation. Likewise, employers get candidates with the relevant, foundational skills they need to help them reach business goals. How can we promise that? Employer partners regularly give us feedback on what’s working at Codeup, what’s not, and what they’re looking for in a new hire. Read on to learn what it means to have an employer influenced curriculum.

What’s an Employer Partner?

Employer partners are the companies that hire our graduates. They're the first to know about our recruitment events and we display their logo on our marketing materials. We also use their feedback to influence our curriculum, program offerings, and campus locations. When they’re hiring, we learn what they’re looking for and send a few handpicked candidates from a diverse pool of alumni. Every employer partner gets high quality, personalized matchmaking with no fees (it’s completely free) and some even serve on our Technical Advisory Board.

What’s a Technical Advisory Board?

Annually, we host two Technical Advisory Board meetings with a few employer partners. One is to discuss Web Development and one is to discuss Data Science. In these meetings, the board gives feedback on their experiences with Codeup students to answer questions like:

• How do Codeup students compare to other candidates?
• How can they stand out on GitHub?
• What do you want to see on their resumes?

They also answer questions about Codeup more broadly, such as:

• Would you change anything about the curriculum?
• What would you change about recruiting from Codeup?
• What other program offerings would you be interested in?

Thirdly, they answer questions about their business, including:

• What tools and technologies are you using?
• What technologies do you plan to use in the near future?
• How have your interviews and technical assessments changed since going remote?

This kind of feedback is invaluable in both preparing our students for success and meeting employer expectations. As a result, we’re very grateful for the participation of the Technical Advisory Board!

How else is the curriculum employer influenced?

In addition to the technical curriculum, students also receive a professional development curriculum. Led by our Professional Development Coordinator and Career Coaches, each student gets help with resume building, LinkedIn pages, and mock interviews. We also coach students on professional expectation setting for everything from what to wear to an interview to what to expect in-field on the job. This ongoing part of the curriculum helps build students’ brand as developers and ensures that employers receive the professionalism they expect.

Ready to learn more?

If you’re looking to kickstart a new career with a curriculum that’s tailored to employers, then click here to learn more about Web Development and here to learn about Data Science. If you’re an employer interested in partnering with Codeup, click here to get in touch with a member of our Business Development team today. Your future success awaits!