When organizations are hiring, they are usually looking for individuals who have a specific skill set and experience to fit the role that has been created. Away from the experience they bring onto the team, they also bring with them other competencies such as their ability to communicate well, exhibit teamwork, who they are under pressure and so and so forth.
However, in the tech industry, there has been a struggle to find software developers/ engineers who are the perfect fit, those who possess both technical and non-technical skills, those who are great developers, and also have great interpersonal skills.
Oscar Musana is the CTO of Awamo Uganda, a fintech company with branches in Kenya, Tanzania and of recent they have expanded their operations to Nigeria, find out more about Awamo. They develop banking solutions for their clients and are one of Refactory’s hiring partners. Awamo has so far engaged 2 of students who have been through the Refactory program and Oscar allowed us into what it’s like coming alongside Refactory in hiring their students.
“I experienced Refactory before I had the chance to get to know it better. One of our hires Julius Oketayot has been such an amazing resource to the team and the company as a whole. He exhibited professionalism and excellence in his work from day one,” Oscar recalls.
Julius Oketayot is a Refactory alumnus who is now working with Awamo in the capacity of a backend developer for micro-services. Julius graduated and went onto the Bootcamp where he and his team developed an SDK to help e-businesses receive cashless payments using the @xente_app Payment Collection API.
When the COVID 19 pandemic hit, companies were forced to downsize for businesses to stay afloat, but when the call had to be made at Awamo, Julius was kept.“ The team that Julius was assigned to actually demanded that he stays due to the commitment to his work and his ability to deliver,” Oscar mentioned.
At Refactory, we came to the understanding that to be an excellent software developer one must possess not just technical but non-technical skills as well. The kinds of skills that get you one foot in the door and also make you stand out of the crowd. We believe in equipping the students enough to become employable. “When Julius gives you his word best believe that he will uphold it, and when he is unable to, he always communicates.” Oscar recounts
Our goal at Refactory is to equip persons with the right skills to make a difference in their communities with the use of technology. When we get a chance to interact with our partners, we understand where the challenges are and how we can then adjust our learning to better prepare them for gainful employment.
I must say that if this is the quality of students you put out of your program then I am interested in a more beneficial and long-standing partnership with Refactory. The students we have so far had the chance to work with are not developers for the pay-check, they are developers for the solution and we need more individuals like that in the industry.
Oscar Concluded
Are you interested in partnering with Refactory? Visit our website here or please email Lyllian on [email protected] for the different ways in which you can partner with us.
Also, if you’re interested in taking part in the Refactory program, learn more about the offerings of the Catalyst program and apply be apart of our January 2021 intake.
