39% Indian techies learn to code before they turn 20

14-year old Tanmay Bakshi’s appointment as Artificial Intelligence scientist with IBM baffled many, and it outlined a major upcoming trend – youngsters are, raring to join the tech world, and the race to become super coders.Tanmay Bakshi is a child prodigy, like many others in the technology world. Nine-year-old Anvitha Vijay – who has several iOS applications to her credit – was the youngest participant at Apple’s Worldwide Developers’ Conference. This list is growing every day and it points at a fact that technology is welcoming all aficionados and age is no bar.

This fact was again verified by more than 2,000 coders who participated in TechGig’s exclusive survey and stated that 84% of them learned to code before they turned 25 years of age! Of these, nearly 45% of programmers started coding between the age of 20-24 years, and more than 39% of coders learned to code at the age of 15-20 years.

Ramathreya Krishnamurthi, Business Head, TimesJobs & TechGig added a pertinent point here, “With a growing millennial population, India is a hub of young professionals. Our survey states that 84% of programming professionals started coding between the age of 15-24 years! This is good news because, coding will be a major skill in demand in the future and the sooner you learn it, the better it is.”

IT professionals ditch startups for big companies

Another surprising fact came up from this survey is that techies now prefer established companies to startups. This is a complete U-turn from some time ago when most technologists wanted to work in startups or turn entrepreneurs. TechGig’s survey found that 30% of coders want to work in IT firms, another 30% want to work with established companies. Around 24% of coders would want to work with startups and 16% of respondents want to start their own venture.  

IT recruiters prefer ‘on the job learners’ coding talent

Digitisation is no more a choice, but a norm. Hence people with coding skills are sought after in every industry. TechGig also surveyed 2,000 hiring managers to understand their preference of tech talent.

33% of recruiters said they look for ‘on the job learners’ when hiring coders. Only 25% of recruiters look for university certified programming professionals and just 16% prefer short-term diploma holders. It’s an indication that more than educational degrees, it’s the attitude to learn and adapt to the job requirements that finds preference among the hiring managers.

TechGig survey findings indicate that 33% of recruiters, assess skills before onboarding techies and this is indeed one of the biggest hiring challenges. Apart from this, finding good coders in a competitive market is also a certain challenge. Nearly 18% of recruiters found the interview process for coders to be exhausting.