CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A technology company in Charlotte is in dire need of qualified employees. So much so, that it is willing to train and hire people without a computer science degree.

What You Need To Know

  • Genesis10 recently started a program called Dev10 to train junior developers, who often come from other fields

  • To get into the program, candidates must pass an aptitude test

  • The company reports this has allowed them to hire 60% more women and 200% more non-Asian minorities

Ben Leboutillier from Charlotte graduated college with a degree in physics and went on to be an EMT, but he eventually had a change of heart.

“About four years of working in health care, I was looking for a switch and many people thought that software might be a good switch for me,” Leboutillier says.

Like many people changing careers, he was worried about the cost.

“When I was looking into a role in software, a big thing for me was I did not want to have to go back to college,” Leboutillier says.

That’s when he found out about Genesis10 and its new program, Dev10. Anyone with a bachelor’s degree can apply for the program, and if selected, receive full training to be employed. The first step is to pass the aptitude test.

“It was like no other test I had taken, for example, there were questions that would give you five strings of 60 characters and you had to point out the one that was different,” Leboutillier says.

The aptitude test is a 75-minute timed test with 29 questions. That means candidates have about two and a half minutes to answer each question. Here’s an example question:

Jack's age plus Marie's age is 27.

Jack's age plus Fred's age is 38.

Marie's age plus Fred's age is 33.

How old is Jack?

A. 13

B. 14

C. 15

D. 16

E. 17


“It’s a timed, online assessment that measures logic, reasoning, and pattern recognition skills,” Genesis10 Managing Director Angelia Brekke says.

Brekke says if candidates pass the test, the next step is a three-month training course.

“We’ve hired people in education," Brekke says. “We have quite a few teachers that are applying to the program.”

CEO Harley Lippman says they are willing to pay for candidates to be trained because there is a major tech talent shortage. They say for every five tech job openings in Charlotte, they usually only have one qualified candidate.

“COVID-19 has actually increased the demand for IT people,” Lippman says. “There is greater demand for getting everything in the cloud, network security, that has gone through the roof.”

Leboutillier got the job at Genesis10 in March and thinks more companies should have programs like this.

“You don’t need four years to learn most roles,” Leboutillier says. “You can learn it within a few months of classroom and work on the job.”

To learn more about the program, click here.