Belgium: tailored training for digital test engineers

With the increasing digitalisation of activities, strengthening the digital skills of workers is a major challenge in Brussels, where 13 ICT professions have been identified as critical occupations. It was within this context that Sogeti, which is part of the Capgemini Group, approached the training and employment centre for digital professions DigitalCity in Brussels, to develop a joint training-employment programme tailored to its needs. This partnership request, made in January 2022, became a reality on 7 March 2022 with the launch of the first round of the 35-day Junior Digital Test Engineer (DTE) training programme.

Strengthening digital skills for employment

To make this project a success, Sogeti contributed to the key stages of this close partnership with the public training and employment services brought together at DigitalCity:

• the training programme was developed jointly by Sogeti and Bruxelles Formation;
• the company and Actiris selected the 12 jobseekers who followed the training programme;
• more than half of the training programme aimed at the key skills of the DTE profession (specific procedures and tools such as Agile/Scrum methods and the foundations of testing) was taught by Sogeti experts;
• the more cross-disciplinary IT skills (systems and networks, databases, development and programming languages) were covered by Bruxelles Formation.

These modules, taught in English, enabled learners to acquire the skills necessary to join the teams at Sogeti, with the company having committed to recruiting a least 80% of them on an individual in-company training programme. At the end of the training programme, an International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB) certification paid by Sogeti and recognised by companies in the ICT sector, also serves as proof of the skills acquired by the trainees.

A successful collaboration

At the end of the first round, 11 trainees signed permanent contracts with Sogeti. A second round with 12 new trainees started on 21 November and will end on 3 February 2023. In order to respond even more fully to the needs of the Belgian labour market, the company is offering language courses (NL or EN) to the new group, in addition to the language vouchers provided by Actiris since the first session.

With this collaboration, Digitalcity.brussels is continuing its mission of facilitating recruitment for businesses.

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View Brussels. Analyse des fonctions critiques 2020 en Région de Bruxelles-Capitale: Décembre 2021 [Analysis of critical functions 2020 in the Brussels-Capital Region: December 2021]