Having taken on interns since 2019, FarSoft believes this practice will create a pool of skilled talent to fill future roles within or outside the company. “We want to provide training and work experience to school-leavers, students and recent graduates,” explained FarSoft senior developer Reggie van Niekerk.

“Initially, we started with only one intern, but this year we provided the opportunity to nine young people, of which two worked remotely. And I must say, the programme has been running with great success so far.”

According to FarSoft’s Freddie Roux, the raison d’être for the internship programme is that competent systems developers are becoming increasingly scarce. “Sometimes young talent is snapped up by big corporates, or they seek opportunities abroad, or worse still, they’re not ‘discovered’ and given decent opportunities by our schools or educational system.

“To help alleviate the dilemma, we invite young, jobless people – often with no or very little experience or training – for interviews. This year about a dozen pitched up and a handful made it through the interviews. When interviewing, we gauge background, personality and possible aptitude for IT. But in particular, we keep a look-out for those with a hunger to do something with their lives, as well as an indication of inherent drive.

“We then sign them on; provide them with a desk, chair, laptop and equipment; pay them a monthly stipend; and teach them basic work rules and how the gears grind at FarSoft. Then they get going with online courses – interspersed with in-house practical lessons and discussions: SQL, programming, principles of systems development, the fruit industry, packhouse visits and so forth.

“Our experienced staff and developers are available daily to monitor their progress, engage with them and provide mentorship. In addition, we measure progress every few weeks with carefully-designed, formal tests. When results aren’t as per the FarSoft standard, re-tests are done.

“After a few months, we’re now at the stage where some interns have left, some have changed direction because their talents are more suited to other roles at FarSoft, and a few are progressing well along the path to becoming programmers. As they get more involved with developing Farsoft’s core products, we gradually increase the pressure every week.

“A highlight of note is when we discover one or two bright talents who haven’t been recognised previously by the educational system, other potential employers, or even the young person him/herself!

“Should clients be interested in procuring young, newly trained, vetted IT personnel, please send us an enquiry. Also, if clients have young employees who they’d like to develop in a systems direction, we’ll gladly assist in next year’s round of internships.  Working together, we can make a difference – no matter how small.”

Last word came from the interns, enthusing about their experience at FarSoft. Etienne van Zyl commented, “I so enjoy my colleagues! The spirit of friendliness and helpfulness makes it a sheer pleasure coming to work every day. Always smiles all around!” And Jucelian Human said, “Apart from the friendly colleagues and beautiful environment at FarSoft, there’s an all-pervasive spirit to reach higher and higher in terms of abilities.”

CAPTIONS

MAIN PHOTO. Back-row: Sachin van Rooyen, Etienne van Zyl, Alida Roux and Jucelian Human. Front-row: Matthew Petersen, Wilbur Jacobs and Micah Bonzet.

PHOTO BELOW. Interns writing an extensive SQL exam after a few weeks of practical training.