Brightening the Future of Youth! ... Busan City and Shinsegae I&C Recruit First Cohort for 'Sparos Academy'

Promotional poster for recruiting the first batch of students at Spharos Academy.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] Busan City and Shinsegae I&C are recruiting the first batch of students for the ‘Spharos Academy’ until the 25th, ahead of the official opening of the ‘Shinsegae I&C Busan Campus’ scheduled for July.

In February, Busan City and Shinsegae I&C signed a ‘business agreement for the establishment and operation cooperation of a youth education institution.’

As a result, the ‘Shinsegae I&C Busan Campus’ will open next month in Centum City, Haeundae-gu.

‘Spharos Academy’ is the first educational program offered at the ‘Shinsegae I&C Busan Campus,’ where Shinsegae I&C provides program development and educational services, and Busan City and the Busan Economic Promotion Agency support student selection, promotion, and corporate employment.

The academy is a practical software (SW) training program created based on a demand survey for IT talent recruitment conducted among companies located in Busan to strengthen the employment competitiveness of Busan youth.

Spharos means ‘a smart partner that helps tomorrow’s growth and, like a lighthouse (Pharos), presents new directions and illuminates the future.’

The academy consists of courses designed to cultivate the skills, collaboration abilities, and problem-solving capabilities required by companies.

The curriculum is divided into stages: ▲‘Start Camp,’ which teaches basic knowledge such as major SW technologies and project management ▲‘Clone Coding Project,’ where students create actual implemented services ▲‘Corporate-linked Project,’ which involves planning, designing, and developing based on real industry issues occurring in companies.

Employment support services are also provided to students.

Students can plan their employment strategies tailored to suitable roles and companies with SW job-specialized employment consultants and receive training on essential competencies for employment such as resume writing, interviews, and IT portfolio composition.

Career mentoring with current developers is also supported to help establish a career roadmap as SW developers.

Currently, anyone under 34 years old with web programming skills who is a graduate (or expected graduate) of a university located in Busan or a domestic/foreign 4-year university graduate (or expected graduate) with resident registration in Busan, regardless of major, can apply.

After document screening, coding tests, and interviews, a final 30 students will be selected.

The training will be held for 18 weeks from the 18th to November 18th at the Shinsegae I&C Busan Campus, and the tuition is free.

For detailed information on how to apply and required documents, refer to the Shinsegae I&C ‘Spharos Academy’ website and the Busan Youth Platform.

Seong-gi Gu, Senior Executive Director in charge of new business at Shinsegae I&C, said, “Through the successful operation of the Shinsegae I&C Busan Campus, we will do our best to strengthen youth employment competitiveness and revitalize employment in the Busan area so that students, companies, and the region can all achieve a win-win.”

Go Mi-ja, Director of the Youth Industry-Academia Startup Bureau at Busan City, also said, “We will continue to cooperate with companies to nurture young talent, strengthen regional industrial competitiveness, and increase youth employment rates.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.