Teaming Up!

In effort to attract and retain talent for the software industry, Main teamed up with its portfolio companies to offer a scholarship to promising students. The initiative will act as a bridge between talented students and the software industry. Through this great initiative, the selected students are given the opportunity to acquire first-hand insight and knowledge from software professionals themselves. These professionals will mentor the students till the completion of their studies. This educational journey does not only apply for the students but also for the professionals from our portfolio businesses. This is where cooperation meets co-learning in an aim to help and support students to obtain their degrees. This initiative and its ability to fast track qualifications is crucial for our industry, since there is a severe lack of software developers.

Yesterday, this social initiative was kickstarted through an introductory event. During this event three selected talents Mette, Karim and Abdallah, from the Hague University of Applied Sciences met up with their mentors, Mark Velthuijsen and Alex Nijenhuis from Qics, Sander Dam from KING and Robert van Krimpen from Enovation.

Robert van Krimpen, Manager IT-Infra & Operations at Enovation, mentioned: “I expect this to be a knowledgeable and insightful time, not only for the students, but also for us as mentors. I expect to learn from each other, and to be honest, it is also a great way to see and meet new faces. Not just the same faces I see on a day-to-day basis at the office.”.

Indeed, learning is a two-way street and mentors alike expressed how the initiative really contributes to making a proactive change towards an even brighter future for the software industry. As such, the mentors explained how this is a great way to recruit and attract new young talent, as the industry has always struggled with finding employees that are willing and able to work in the more technical, specialized sectors.

Karim, a young promising talent aspiring to become a software developer, expects to learn a lot during the process and sees this opportunity as “a great first step in the right direction”.

Although this kickoff was about getting to know each other initially, first life lessons were shared by the mentors. Mark Velthuijsen, who successfully built the software company Qics in the last 20+ years, encouraged students to experiment during their careers.

Mark Velthuijsen, Founder of Qics, added: “Everything you try doesn’t necessarily have to be it. You need to have the courage to move and take action, but you also need to know that not every move Is the right one. You only know once you try it. So just try, you have nothing to lose.”

What started as a promising and eventful day ended in an even more promising future for these students and for the software industry.