Frequently Asked Questions

“Why do you work with students?”

“Why is the sky blue?”

“How do you train apprentices?”

“How many developers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?”

We answer all these questions and more on a regular basis. Have a question that isn’t answered here? Email info@edusource.us

General FAQ

How are you associated with RoboSource?

We are one and the same. We used to go by EduSource for both the training branch AND the software / automation branch, but it was confusing in the marketplace. So in spring 2021, we added a new brand “RoboSource” as a spearhead for our process automation / software work. We are both the same company, but the specific brand of EduSource is now tailored only to internships / apprenticeships / training.

Read more about RoboSource here

How did EduSource get its start?

That’s a fun story.

Back when Jason had a small company (called jrbeutler, inc.) that consisted of, well, just himself, he was consulting at a local logistics company and overseeing an outsourced team from India. At the same time, he was teaching a computer science class as an adjunct professor at Taylor University.

As the semester wore on, Jason discovered something surprising: the students were writing better, more concise, more maintainable code than the India team. An idea formed: what if we outsourced software-writing to local college students rather than overseas?

From there, the ideas snowballed. What if we brought in a few carefully selected students to work as a part of our development team? What if we hired them for two full years and spent the time training them to program in a real development environment, as a part of a real programming team? Thus, the “EduSource” part of jrbeutler, inc. was launched.

The crazy thing is that we discovered a serious passion for training the next generation in the process. Read more about our why here. 

That’s not the end! Check out this blog post to read the rest of our story.

What Are EduSource's Core Values?

At EduSource, we’re anything but mundane. So when we convened our leadership team and tasked them with creating core values, we got some craziness. “Let’s base each one on a movie character.” “Or how about an obscure TV personality?” We got a lot of ideas. We had a lot of debate.

At the end of several meetings, we agreed on one thing: we wanted each core value to have a story. We wanted them to mean nothing to someone who just walked in off the street and everything to our team. We hoped by using core values that told a story, our team would remember them, internalize them, live them. Here they are:

1. Crownless King
Take ownership
Take responsibility
Give grace

2. Phalanx
Protect each other
Protect the team
March as one

3. Figure-it-Out Gene
Be curious
Be fearless
Find solutions

4. Kaizen
Keep improving
Keep changing
Make it better

Strange words, we know, but packed with meaning for our company. Want to learn the stories behind them? Read our Core Values Blog.

What is EduSource's Why?

At EduSource, we imagine a world in which everyone feels empowered to pursue a career in technology, fully supported through mentorship and with an emphasis on software artisanship.

Read more about who we are and what we believe here.

 

Training FAQ

How does an apprenticeship compare with a programming internship?

An apprentice is someone who is learning a trade from a skilled worker. Historically, apprenticeships were a primary method for adult education in America. And they still are in certain industries.

Recently, apprenticeships are making a comeback, especially with the crisis of cost associated with post-secondary education. Why shouldn’t young adults get paid to learn their trade, complementing a formal education? We believe people learn best through doing, so we pair apprentices up with full-time software engineers to get a deep-dive into the world of custom software creation and process automation. Our apprentices work full-time for a set period or part-time while also taking classes.

How is this different than a programming internship?

  • Apprenticeships last longer. Truly learning practical skills doesn’t happen in a month or two. It takes time. Our apprentices are encouraged to work for us for up to two full years while they are in school.
  • Apprenticeships are built on mentorship. Most traditional internships will have interns working together to accomplish something that isn’t vital to the company’s success. EduSource apprentices work right with our full-time developers to complete real functionality on real projects. The whole point is to learn from someone who is already doing this professionally, not to experiment in a vacuum.
  • Apprenticeships are focused on education. The point of most internships is just to get students into a professional environment to learn. That’s valuable. But EduSource takes it several steps further. With the intent being to build professional software artisans that can truly contribute to a project, we include things like book clubs, lunch and learns, weekly EduSource U classes, and one-on-one coaching.
What about working with millennials?

Just because the young people in our office wear cargo shorts and flip-flops and can occasionally be seen watching “The Office” with headphones over their lunch hour, don’t assume that they should be treated like “interns.” We do, actually, have a lot of interns (read more about our two-year apprentice program here) around. But it would be a huge mistake to think that these students are best used by getting coffee or making copies. We choose our apprentices carefully, and boy, are these students impressive. They start writing code by their third day with the company and are some of our most bought-in employees.

We are always on the lookout for “experts” in different areas of technology within the company, and several of these unofficial titles are held by people that have been out of school for 1-2 years. Makes no difference to us. Why should it?

Our company’s average age is 28, and we love it! Check out The Truth About Millennials to get the rest of our thoughts.

What is your On-Campus Apprentice Experience?

EduSource is now offering an On-Campus Apprentice Experience to universities. Students work in teams to complete software and data analytics projects under the tutelage of EduSource employees. The experience takes place on campus, with students having specific work hours to meet with their teams.

Teams are led by a student Team Lead, and Team Leads are mentored by a Program Director. Each student holds a specific role on the team, such as developer, UI/UX, business analyst, quality assurance, etc. These roles meet weekly with an industry coach that teaches them more about how to do their jobs and also weekly with their specific team to measure success.

Read more about the new On-Campus Apprentice Experience here.