Hartford Business Journal

HartfordBusiness.com | January 25, 2021 | Hartford Business Journal 15 Sr. App Developer w/ Aetna in Hartford, CT. Responsible for developing, enhancing and maintaining Aetna Sales Effectiveness web portals. Rqmts: Bach deg in Comp Sci, IT or eng field. Min 5 yrs exp working in multiple web projects, either in the job offered or as a developer/ programmer; working w/: SQL, .Net, C#, MVC, WCF, SSIS, JavaScript, jQuery, Html5, CSS/Bootstrap, & IIS; creating web portals w/ distributed n-tier architecture, Wireframes, conduct design, code reviews & feasibility assessment for implementations, create unit test scripts, & provide mgmt reporting & mentoring/training to offshore teams. Apply at www. aetna.com Req# 74043BR or 1468148BR, or email resume to ImmigrationSupport@CVSHealth. com reference Req 74043BR/ 1468148BR. feedback on a weekly basis," Perras said, adding that UConn's career services department also provides coaching for students who complete the program. Coding skills are certainly in- demand in Connecticut, said Michael Cantor, co-managing partner of Hartford intellectual property law firm Cantor Colburn, and chair of the quasi-public venture fund Connecticut Innovations, which invests heavily in bioscience and tech companies. Cantor, an advocate for increasing available job training and looking to the tech world as a growth vehicle in Connecticut, said entrepreneurs tell him the lack of tech skills in the state's workforce hinders their ability to hire here. "One of the biggest complaints that I've heard for a number of years from tech startups in this state is not finding enough qualified employees," Cantor said. "It's really critical to the success of Connecticut that we have this supply of coders." Competitive field Infosys, one of the largest tech companies operating in Hartford, is looking for prospective workers capable of full-stack web development, said Jeff Auker, head of technology and innovation at the India-based IT firm's Hartford hub. Infosys came to Connecticut three years ago, after public and private sector leaders, including Gov. Ned Lamont, wooed company President Ravi Kumar, who was looking for several cities to base U.S. innovation hubs. While the pandemic emptied out Infosys' Goodwin Square office space as employees work remotely, the company had about 200 people in Hartford pre-pandemic. Business has been steady amid COVID-19, Auker said, and Infosys hasn't slowed its hiring in the state. Kumar currently sits on the state Governor's Workforce Council. Auker said Infosys works with state officials on state-level, tech- training programs, and he's a fan of UConn's Coding Boot Camp because it teaches the coding skills he looks for in entry-level workers. "[Infosys has] been actively with ... the training programs throughout the state to help guide and craft the curricula in the training programs for the IT skills that we're all in short supply of," Auker said, adding that he thinks UConn's coding program could serve as a significant addition to that tech education effort. Infosys has directly partnered with Trinity College to help the liberal arts school develop a tech- training program. However, Matthew Nemerson, former president of the Connecticut Technology Council who currently works for Shelton energy- efficiency tech firm Budderfly, warned that while additional skills training is a good thing, many coding jobs available in Connecticut necessitate deep knowledge and experience, which isn't possible to develop in a time-limited program. "The truth is coding is like language skills," Nemerson said. "If I'm going to hire translators at the United Nations, your language training can't be high school French." Nemerson is an advocate of introducing tech and coding education as part of a regular K-12 curriculum, and said people intent on working as software programmers or web developers should learn basic coding to get their feet wet. But coding is a competitive field, Nemerson said, and people should be clear-eyed about that. Auker agrees that a training program on its own teaches requisite skills for entry-level employment at Infosys, but he also looks for internships or other real- world experience when hiring. Auker said Connecticut companies should expand internship opportunities for prospective tech workers. Stafford, the UConn Coding Boot Camp graduate, said he had some on-the-ground knowledge of how coding is used in the real world from working alongside coders as a financial analyst. Right now he's at a lower level in tech than he was in finance, but he thinks he has room to grow more than would have been possible if he kept working on Wall Street. "I was heading down a slow descent of my marketability in finance," Stafford said. "Who knows if the fruits of this change will bear what my previous career did? But it's a top-rated skill set." OCCUPATION 2016 2026 10 YEAR CHANGE NET/% HOURLY ANNUAL Software developers, systems software 5,237 6,033 796 15.2% $50.13 $104,278 Bachelors Web developers 1,870 2,153 283 15.1% $35.18 $73,164 Associates Software developers, applications 9,492 12,275 2,783 29.3% $48.72 $101,334 Bachelors Kylene Perras Matt Nemerson EMPLOYMENT PROJECTIONS WAGES EDUCATION REQUIREMENT Coding skills are in demand Tech jobs in Connecticut that require coding skills are in demand and are expected to grow in the years ahead. Source: CT Dept. of Labor PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Students participating in UConn's Coding Boot Camp.

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