Dodds announces Assured Skills Academy with Microsoft

Economy Minister Diane Dodds today announced 20 high quality training places on an Assured Skills Academy with Microsoft.

Focussing on Modern Applications Development, the Assured Skills Academy will see participants receive industry-relevant pre-employment training with Belfast Met from 12 April to 6 July. Participants who complete the Academy are guaranteed a job interview for a role at Microsoft in Belfast.

Highlighting the opportunity, the Minister said:

“I am pleased to announce this Assured Skills Academy with Microsoft and Belfast Met. This is the second Assured Skills Academy with the company after it established a Cyber Security Centre in Belfast in January 2020.

“This Academy is an excellent opportunity for people to reskill for a role at a global software company and I urge anyone who is interested and eligible to apply.”

Darren Dillon of Microsoft said:

“The Assured Skills Academy will provide training towards industry-recognised certifications in areas including Cloud Native Software Development and DevOps; these are skills with a global shortage and we are pleased to partner with Belfast Met and the Department of Economy to help address those gaps in Northern Ireland.”

The Assured Skills Academy will provide training towards industry-recognised accreditation in areas including Modern Applications Development, Frontend Development, JavaScript, SQL & KQL and DevOps.

Participants will also receive a training allowance of £155 per week.

Louise Warde Hunter, Principal and Chief Executive at Belfast Met, commented:

“As the designated curriculum hub in Northern Ireland for digital ICT, Belfast Met plays a leading role in upskilling participants to be career-ready for growth areas of the business world. We look forward to welcoming our new cohort of learners to the Assured Skills Academy with Microsoft.”

Applications are open now and close at midnight on Sunday 7 March 2021. Applicants must hold a 2:2 degree in any discipline or a Level 5 qualification in an IT-related subject.

For more information and to apply, visit the Assured Skills page on nidirect.

Notes to editors: 

1. Assured Skills is a pre-employment training programme run by the Department for the Economy. More information is available on the Department's website.
2. Follow us on Twitter @Economy_NI.
3. For media enquiries contact the Department for the Economy Press Office at pressoffice@economy-ni.gov.uk
4. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.

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