Expansion of educational offering for digital professions in Aix-Marseille

New schools and more and more training courses

New technologies have clearly become essential to the smooth running of our economy – and of our society in general. Mastering them is a major challenge for local regions, which become even more attractive to companies when they can offer a large pool of high-quality digital skills.

In response to this changing requirement, Aix-Marseille is home to many organizations providing training for digital professions, and their number is increasing every year. Provence Promotion is supporting this dynamic by helping these new schools to open. We take a look at the installation of Bocal Academy, Rocket School and La Capsule in Marseille.

In Aix-Marseille, the education and training offering in the digital sector is expanding rapidly – and this is excellent news for companies! Being able to recruit digital talent is a key part of their digital transformation.

Among the profiles actively being sought: developers, and also web project managers capable of managing the entire digital chain, along with "Bizdevs" (digital business developers), providing sales forces that are experienced in digital practices.

Aix-Marseille: tremendous potential for digital skills

Aix-Marseille plans to expand its talent pool considerably in these shortage occupations. The iconic La Plateforme inclusive coding school will have trained more than 3,000 coders, developers and AI or cyber security specialists by 2026. Meanwhile, the Theodora campus, which will open in the 15^th arrondissement in Marseille, will develop new courses in telecommunications and networks, enabling its graduates to become installers, datacenter operators or technicians.

Alongside major engineering schools such as Polytech, Supinfo and Ingésup Aix-en-Provence, Aix-Marseille can boast an increasing number of training organizations. Le Wagon, Simplon, Wild Code Scholl and WebForce 3 have opened campuses in the region, helping to increase the number of people learning new technologies. These organizations are playing an active role in the development of this educational offering, with the distinguishing characteristic of being accessible to all job seekers.

Provence Promotion facilitates the arrival of new campuses

As part of its missions to develop the digital industry, Bouches-du-Rhône-based economic development agency Provence Promotion has helped 3 new players in the professional digital training industry to settle in Marseille.

"We are becoming more attractive year on year in terms of digital training offers. However, progress is still needed in the local region. This is a major issue for companies in all sectors, and  we welcome the new campuses with great enthusiasm" explains Laetitia Biciacci, digital project manager and head of the innovation division.

Their common factor is their adoption of a practical approach to teaching in order to train people who can be of immediate use to the job market. Thanks to its training courses delivered by working professionals, 95% find a job in less than 6 months. Here's a closer look at the last 3 actors followed by the agency.

Le Bocal Academy: ready-to-use web and mobile developers

Le Bocal Academy was founded in Nice in 2019. The school trains computer developers, focusing on two specific web languages, PHP and JavaScript, which are the most commonly requested by companies.

Its name, Le Bocal ("The Jar"), reflects the desire to offer immersive, individualized support to a maximum of 15 people per cohort, selected according to their profiles and motivations (no entrance exam). The school offers two intensive courses lasting 4 months or 10 weeks, remotely and in person, resulting in a higher professional qualification. Le Bocal Academy opened its Marseille branch 1 year ago with the help of Provence Promotion, and has trained 60 people from two cohorts. In September 2022, a new degree-level sandwich course will be open to about ten students.

"In Marseille, we identified strong demand from recruiters and interest from highly motivated potential students who needed the promise of closer geographical proximity to our school before they could commit to our training courses. Thanks to Provence Promotion, we quickly located office premises and became part of the ecosystem", says Michael Monfort, one of the 3 co-founders of Le Bocal Academy, who runs the Marseille school. Located in The Babel Community République, the school is looking for new premises of between 100 and 200 m2 in downtown Marseille to enable it continue its growth.

Rocket School: a free school to train ultra-motivated web sales people

As the pace of digital transformation increases, companies are increasingly having to change their business practices. This observation prompted Cyril Pierre de Geyer and Jérémy Diavet in 2018 to co-found Rocket School, a digital sales and marketing school to provide training in customer acquisition and loyalty via digital methods. To date, 6 campuses have opened in France, including one in Marseille in 2020.

As a company under France's Economie Sociale et Solidaire social economy system, the school is free and accessible to all without any required qualifications. "Soft skills and motivation are both vitally important for anyone wanting to join our training courses. From backgrounds such as furniture removers, cellists, retail sales staff, cooks, caregivers, military personnel and sommeliers, they have all become Marketing and Sales Managers specialized in digital acquisition, a professional qualification with 3 years of higher education", explains Alexandre Lebègue, who joined the Rocket School adventure in 2019.

The training is delivered over 15 months: 3 months in Bootcamp to undertake 3 projects in connection with partner companies, and 12 months in alternation with 4 days a week in the company and 1 day at school. From its first-year base in La Plateforme, Rocket School Marseille has moved on to a larger space in 2021.

"Provence Promotion put us in contact with various landlords, and we moved into the La Joliette district. A 230m2 space that we were able to arrange according to our needs, classrooms, cafeteria, etc.," explains Alexandre Lebègue. 153 job seekers undergoing retraining have been trained in Marseille since December 2020. 45 new students are expected at the end of October for the launch of the "Digital Business Development" and "Growth Hacking" courses.

La Capsule: intensive coding for beginners or to improve existing skills

A training center co-founded by Noël Paganelli and Marlène Antoinat, La Capsule has been democratizing coding with its American-style bootcamps since 2016. Launched in Lyon, the school now has a presence in 6 French cities, as well as in Brussels and Monaco.

"We opened our third campus in Marseille in 2020. Our bootcamps cover web development for job profiles undergoing retraining, but we also target entrepreneurs who are required to acquire digital skills to grow their business. These two target groups have jumped at the opportunity to train in Marseille to change their lives," says Marlène Antoinat, who has observed a genuine migration from Paris to Marseille. "More and more people are leaving the capital to come and live in Marseille. They are looking for a better quality of life, have identified the needs of companies and want to work in a more relaxed environment.".

Located in the Vieux-Port's Now Coworking space, learners at La Capsule enjoy the benefits of an exceptional setting, and a network. "It is not uncommon to see some of our students hired by the start-ups that are based at the site" says Marlène Antoinat.

4 new sessions are planned for 2022/2023 in Marseille. The new school year will start on October 17. Each session will see 15 people being trained in web and mobile development. Since their arrival, nearly 200 people have attended La Capsule's intensive programs in Marseille.