O'clock, the telepresential web development school that thinks about the well-being of its students

Alexandre Boero February 10, 2020 at 1:307 p.m.This article is sponsored by O'clock. Consult our charter. Virtual classroom © O'clockThe school, which has been training web developers online for more than three years on the basis of telepresence, supports its students during their training and even afterwards, to guide them back to work.O'clock is a school that trains its students in web development. So far, nothing out of the ordinary. Except that it exercises exclusively online, awards diplomas issued by the Ministry of Labor, and makes it possible to break down various barriers, such as the geographical obstacle. To perfect your skills or become a web developer - a job that has been particularly in demand for a few years by employers - the recipe is simple. You will need a computer, an internet connection, and most importantly: motivation. O'clock works on the basis of telepresence, as if you were in a school larger than life... but at home. With all the advantages that this system can offer: the exchange of files in the middle of the course, interactive live surveys, mutual aid between students. Extras that make the difference and that create a climate of serenity and confidence. To learn more about the functioning of an online web dev school, discover the different training courses offered and the way in which they are lived and unfolded, Clubic went to meet Maxime Vasse, one of the four co-founders of the company O'clock, born in 2016 and which has since trained some 1,000 students, most of whom have found jobs as web developers . The technologies taught © O'clock

Interview with Maxime Vasse, general manager of the O'clock school

Clubic: How was the company born? Maxime Vasse (O'clock): We were aware at the time of the shortage of developers. Three of the four co-founders, developers themselves, had said to themselves that it was perhaps necessary to develop web developer training courses, which did not really exist a few years ago. It is difficult to train outside the big cities. We wanted to make an offer totally accessible, online, by telepresence by offering a quality of training that we find in a physical school. We have a dropout rate of less than 10%, in line with our initial objective, which is very low. And whether you are in a big city or in the depths of the Creuse, without wanting to disrespect the Creusois, it does not change anything, you can follow the training. Some students come from Belgium and even Switzerland.

"We wanted to make an offer totally accessible, online, by telepresence by offering a quality of training that can be found in a physical school"

What does O'clock telepresential mean?Telepresential is the idea of ​​recreating the conditions of a “classic” classroom. It is a school where there can be several classrooms, with one or more teachers who discuss, who show on the "board", which is screen sharing in this case, with students who ask their questions, who can express themselves and exchange with each other. Instead of doing all this in a classic physics, it happens in a web interface, which we call the "cockpit". The teacher has plenty of buttons at his disposal. It can for example send instant polls to students, one can also practice sending files, etc. The idea of ​​the survey is equivalent to asking students who have not understood a concept to raise their finger, but with much more precision. Thanks to telepresence, the student is less shy, it is easier for him to click on a button than to raise his hand.Let's take the case of an average Internet user who wants to develop his coding skills and get certified. What must he do to register? What are the terms?We wanted to create a school intended above all for beginners. There are therefore no academic prerequisites. There are obviously technical constraints: you need a computer and an internet connection. Regarding the registration process, we submit the aspiring student to what is called an "initiation ritual", a name that may seem scary but which takes the form of an online test and which includes general computer culture, logic and English. Once this ritual is over, it is time for the "confessional" stage, which consists student to shoot a presentation video, which also allows him to describe his work environment. Each time, the requirement is not incredible. Here, we want to know if the student will succeed in manipulating a webcam or other, to see if he is rather resourceful, and to realize the work environment. This is an opportunity to give some advice to students. If a mum or dad who keeps their children at home wants to register, they must manage to have them looked after, otherwise it can be complicated.

“A school primarily intended for beginners »

What is interesting is that despite the telepresential, O'clock remains a school, which requires, in fact, a certain discipline.That's exactly it. There is a cliché that we can have about telework, telepresence, which is often negative and which gives the image of someone who stays at home and does not do much. We warn students that a certain rigor is required. If you have the rigor and the motivation, then you can start the courses at O'clock.The cockpit © O'clockAre the training courses open to job seekers or to those And those who benefit from hours on their personal training account? Absolutely, yes, several types of financing are possible. Job seekers can apply for individual assistance, which is the most common case. Pôle Emploi favors schools with a high rate of return to work, and this is the case with ours. The CPF is also a means. Sometimes regions and county councils can also support a student. For example, there is the case of a student who benefits from 1,500 euros thanks to his CPF, who will be entitled to 2,000 euros from Pôle Emploi as individual training aid (AIF) and will then complete his pocket the remaining sum. With these co-financing systems, many students can manage to register for training. The Skills Investment Plan (SIP) is helping to do just that.

"Pôle emploi, CPF... several types of financing are possible"

Concerning the training available on O'clock, the panel is quite complete, with full stack, CMS also with Wordpress training...The first training launched by O'clock in 2017 lasted 3 months base and then offered a specialization. Today, specializations are offered immediately, which is particularly useful for those who already have developer skills. We wanted to put in place a system where we have a common base, and then the person will choose according to their affinities (if they like JavaScript, they will rather turn to training in React), or their pool employment (if companies are looking for developers specialized in Symfony, they will choose Symfony training).How many students can we count in the same class, at the same time?The courses can have between 15 students, during the specializations and 20 or 25 students during the base. Whether it's 15 or 25, there's real interactivity allowed with video and chat. Initially, we were on 20 people, then on courses of 40 people with 2 teachers. Finally, we realized that it was better to lower the number of students and limit ourselves to one teacher. Currently, we set up promotions of 50 people (2 groups of 25) who are interchangeable, which also allows us to diversify the type of interactions and the type of comrades that we can have. One of the skills of the developer is to know how to collaborate with other people.

"The average duration of a training course at O'clock is 6 months"

What is a typical working day like at the O'clock school? Earlier, we were talking about discipline, we imagine that there is a real rhythm to adopt.Students work from Monday to Friday, with some exceptions in training, where there are days of rest, because everything remains intensive. Regarding schedules, classes start at 9 a.m. and end at 12 p.m., for the lunch break. Then they resume from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Instead of doing a full day of 7 hours of work, we prefer to provide 5 hours of lessons, and thus keep a little time in autonomy in the afternoon, what are called "challenges". These are small exercises that take up the concepts of the day or introduce those of the next day, so that students can work on them when they want and more serenely, in the evening for example, offering a certain flexibility. Because on 7-hour days, students often drop out in the afternoon. And all students have a different pace. Being able to organize the last part of their day according to their own pace and constraints (children to pick up from school, etc.) gives them real comfort.What is the average duration of a training course? The "classic" training is divided into several parts. First there are the 3 months of the basics, during which you learn the basics of computer programming and web development. Then, there is 1 month of specialization on a particular technology, then 1 month dedicated to a project, carried out in a group of three or four students, to get as close as possible to the real conditions of the company. Finally, after this 5-month training, the 6th month is used to pass certifications and job coaching. Some students will take several months to start looking for a job or to graduate. But the average duration is about 6 months, from the moment you start to the moment you obtain the diploma.

“Our diplomas are issued by the Ministry of Labour”

What can we say about the value of certification, just to reassure those who may have a priori.We thought it was very likely that by launching such an online school , this raises fears. We did everything to get official certification, and that's what we have today. We issue diplomas issued by the Ministry of Labour, recognized by the State and by the European credit system. It's an official recognition, it's not just a certificate to certify that we have followed the O'clock training. It is indeed a level 5 diploma in the European nomenclature. It can be presented in business, it has real value. It is also a plus for funders like Pôle Emploi, who are looking for degree courses. All of this is all the more important as many online schools are getting started. Some are good, known and recognized, and others have thought up an educational program that is not really adapted, sometimes leaving the students on their own.Concerning the cost of training, we know that some web developer training courses reach up to at 9,000 euros per year. Where do we stand at O'clock?Our "classic" training, which lasts 6 months as we said, costs 6,000 euros and will increase, by the end of the year, to 6 500 euros, since we have never increased the prices yet, while we have added modules year after year. On the other hand, we are careful to make an effort on the price, because if you set a price that is too high, it is rare for funding organizations to contribute up to 9,000 euros, for example. We want those who are considering retraining to be able to turn to us with funding opportunities. Philippe, a trainer © O'clockWhat is the typical profile of trainers? And what is that of the students of the O'clock school?The "typical" trainer has ten years of experience as a web developer, and one to two years of pedagogy. Some are beginner trainers as well. But they have a solid technical background, which allows them to focus on teaching. From a geographical point of view, our trainers come from all over France, and we are in the countryside a lot. It's not just the students who are telepresented, the trainers too.

“Pedagogy, for us, is not just a teacher. There is also peripheral support for our students”

Regarding students, the typical profile is that of someone who is in retraining, either as a job seeker who has not succeeded in finding employment in his sector of activity or training, or as as an employee still in office, but from a field or a company that does not necessarily please them. Geographically, what is surprising is that we have a lot of students from big cities, where sometimes some have training organizations close to their homes. A proof of the advantages of telepresence. Many people in Paris, for example, have decided to take training at O'clock. So geographically, it's quite scattered but there are many students from big cities.How many students have already been trained in web development within the O'clock school?More than 1,000 students have been trained since the beginning of 2017. Of the promotions planned for this year, we should have 800 students in 2020. We will have trained around 2,000 students by the end of the year.And at the level of trainers ?We have about twenty trainers in our ranks, in addition to about ten assistants for the students. Which allows me to insist on one thing. Pedagogy, for us, does not represent only a teacher. There is also peripheral support, by which I mean that it can happen, during the training, that a student has a stroke of less well, or a concern in his personal life. We have student path assistants who follow the students from the start, with the search for funding, to the end, when they are looking for a job. These assistants ensure that everything runs smoothly and that each student stays motivated. They can also resolve conflicts between students or provide advice.

"A professional success rate of 90 to 95%, a rate of return to work of around 70%"

What is the success rate for students?The success rate for the professional title is 90 to 95%. As it is a professional title validated by the State, a jury authorized by the State, whose members are contacted from a list provided by the Ministry of Labor, contributes to obtaining the diploma. What is very interesting is that we often receive compliments from the jury. It also sometimes happens that members of the jury, who themselves come from the professional world, recruit students who have just validated their diploma. Where we focus the most is on the return to work, because this is our primary mission. Today, we have a success rate of 70% and are very strict on the numbers. For us, success means having found a job in digital technology, and not in another field. We make sure not to fool our students with an artificially inflated success rate by those who find a job in a field totally different from that targeted by the web developer training.To end this interview, what can we say about the growth of the O'clock company since its creation?On January 9, 2017, the day of the launch of the first promotion, we were 4 within the company. Today, we are 70 and have grown quite quickly. We are now launching a promotion every three weeks or so. In 2017, there were only three promotions, today there are ten at the same time. We have not sought to raise funds, because we want to keep our independence and preserve this educational quality, which is the heart of our project.This article was commissioned from us by O'clock.< small>However, and as explained in our charter, the angle of this article was decided by the editorial staff and its content was also written independently.