FutureYou academy trains uni graduates for jobs in digital media

Auckland based IT training company, FutureYou, has launched a programme to teach university graduates skills for entry roles in the digital media industry, companies such as media publishers, sales networks, media agencies and marketers.

FutureYou says its programme, FutureYou Academy, “aims to bridge the gap between tertiary education and industry practices so that … trainees can contribute positively to an employer’s business from day one.”

FutureYou director Michael Te Young said many digital media companies have severe skill shortages and this made in-house training difficult, especially at scale.

“Some companies have programmes in place but the reality is that digital staff have to conduct the training and that just intensifies pressure on their workloads. So the programme becomes inconsistent because at the end of the day doing the business is the highest priority,” he said.

FutureYou Academy is described as “a hybrid training and recruitment business model [that] screens and selects its trainees carefully before putting them through the course.” Once student have completed their training they are presented to partner companies who put them through their own selection process.

Te Young says he wants to produce a superior pool of trainee talent from which employers can recruit. “Unlike other courses the Academy is not holistic but instead focuses on teaching four practical digital media competencies: understanding reports, managing campaigns, constructing proposals and creating media plans,” he said. “Students are also required to sit their Google AdWords Fundamentals exam.”

FutureYou says the initial, pilot, intake to the Academy have completed their training.

KBR Digital hided one of the graduates from the pilot intake and general manager, Allanah Tatana, said: “From an employer’s perspective hiring someone fresh out of the FutureYou Academy was a no brainer. The Academy set up [the employee] for success by teaching him the foundations of the digital world and he easily slotted into our business ready to take on the challenges of daily work life. He has been at KBR for four months and is hungry, motivated and super smart.”

Te Young said FutureYou was seeking placements for the remaining trainees from the pilot course and recruiting the second intake.