Ever been speed dating and thought, “Man, I wish job interviews were this awesome?” Frankly, you probably haven’t, but The Distiller, Dunedin’s ICT Business Cluster, has taken the idea of speed dating and applied it to Dunedin’s ever-growing IT Sector.
The idea, created by web entrepreneur Francios Bondiguel, puts students interested in a career in the IT industry in a room with Dunedin businesses looking for young talent to join their teams.
“We are a community of web entrepreneurs, and the idea was to create an environment where (potential) entrepreneurs can share their ideas and start from scratch.”
They meet in a speed-dating-style arena, and the hopeful students pitch their skills and personality to members of the Dunedin business community. Candidates who impress are then either asked back for a formal interview, or offered a position as an intern for the summer, a role that can pay up to four thousand dollars.
The event reflects the increasing importance of networking in the IT industry, and the important role the field is playing in the twenty-first century. “There’s this stigma that computer science and stuff is for people with no life, but I think this is not true. We’ve seen massive successes with Facebook and Twitter are becoming supercool. And I think computer science is becoming more appealing.”
Francios is concerned that Dunedin lacks the mechanisms to retain quality graduates, and hopes to remedy that through programmes like the Distiller.
“Most people would rather go to Auckland or Wellington to find a job that pays more, rather than stay in Dunedin. But I think there are so many opportunities here, and there are some companies who are doing really cool stuff.”
The Distiller is into its second year, and is riding a wave of success after a productive inaugural year. The event managed to create 32 internships, 11 of which converted into some type of work placement at the end of summer. The upside was an expected GDP value creation of $745 000, which is particularly impressive considering the prevailing economic climate.
The Distiller is running its ‘Sexy Summer Jobs’ mixer at 5pm in St David’s Lecture Theatre on Wednesday 22 September. For those who want more details head to thedistiller.org/summerjobs
IT kids get some … jobs, that is
