"We recruit from several universities, including UKZN in Durban and Pietermaritzburg, Durban University of Technology, Wits, Rhodes and UCT," Jones said. "The degree courses we favour are B.Sc (Computer Science), B.Sc (Information Technology) and B.Comm majoring in IT or ISTN."

Once graduates are recruited, they complete a year-long training-and-development programme. This involves hands-on technical as well as soft skills training. At the end of the first three months of classroom training the graduates will be ready to join a development team to begin implementing their training and work on the practical training for the remainder of the year. A senior staff member will facilitate the seamless movement from the classroom to the team where they are assigned a mentor to help them with their career progress.

Familiarisation

Another important element is familiarising the graduates with the environment of the clients they will work with. During the year, they also attend many additional course modules in the areas of communication, time management, leadership and customer centricity.

"It is now over 20 years since the launch of the first course and it is now well-honed," explains Jones. "Reasonably speaking, the graduates start contributing productively after three months and become fully productive after perhaps six to nine months. The pace of progress is set by the graduates themselves."

Once the graduates join teams, they receive consistent feedback from their mentors to help grow their skills. The mentors also help them adjust to the work environment and convert theoretical training into practical personal productivity.