In this new blog post series we’re sitting down for a chat with people making the Codecool vision happen. Please meet Sigrid Hantusch-Taferner, Country Manager of Codecool Austria.
If you want to meet inspiring people, Codecool is a great place to be. Everyday we meet hundreds of smart, ambitious and cool students that study with us to change their careers and our shared digital future. And we meet innovative, great leaders with a vision from hiring companies, that employ our students to build a digital future.
But it’s not only our students and partners that inspire us. We also make sure to work with colleagues that are equally amazing, and make the Codecool mission and vision come to life.
We had a chat with one of these colleagues about her current goals, challenges and outlook on the future. We’re super excited and proud to introduce her to you finally. Please meet Sigrid Hantusch-Taferner, Country Manager of our newest school, Codecool Austria.
Sigrid, how would you introduce yourself, if you were not allowed to mention your work? 🙂
I am a family person who is constantly looking for new experiences, and enjoys adventure and action with family and friends. I love nature, and prefer to be outside in the mountains to hike, climb, bike or ski.
What is your work now actually? What are you responsible for?
As Country Manager, I am currently responsible for getting the Vienna location up and running. I try to pay particular attention to what can work well in Vienna and combine those approaches with the successful existing experiences from the other countries.
In addition to the business aspects, it is particularly important to me to create a good team structure and a cool workplace. Also, to enable the students to receive the best possible training.
What did you do before?
For the last 10 years I was sales and marketing manager at a digital learning solutions provider. Before that, I had many years of experience in sales of e-recruiting and software solutions.
During my studies, I focused on knowledge management and eLearning, which prepared me well for a job in education.
Why did you decide to come work for Codecool? What do you like most about your new workplace?
The Codecool business model immediately convinced me: the market needs IT specialists now and in the coming years, and we help people to gain new qualifications.
Personally, of course, I was intrigued by the challenge of setting up a location here in Vienna. And most of all: I like the people at Codecool 🙂
What's the biggest goal that you set out for yourself in Codecool?
My biggest goal is to continuously improve over the next 3 years, and become a well-known and renowned training institution here in Austria.
What do you see as your biggest challenge currently?
Our biggest task today is to reach our potential students with the right message. We want them to see Codecool positively, as a great place to start a future-proof career.
What trends do you see in the world that impact your work at Codecool most?
The most important trend impacting us today is the growing talent gap. The baby boomers are now retiring, while, of course, everything will be digitally controlled in the future – from city administration to our cars and our stoves.
Where do you think Codecool is going on the short and long term?
I believe that re- and up-skilling people who are already employed is becoming more and more important.
In the long term this means that we are becoming more and more the corporate partner to offer tailor-made training and further education for special needs.
Why do you think hiring companies should partner up with Codecool?
Hiring companies can get great junior talents from us. Talents, who really want to change their lives, and who are enthusiastic, and well-prepared for their first tech job.
How do you see our shared digital future?
Together we will manage to solve social, economic and ecological problems through digital transformation.
It’s our chance to make the world we live in an even better place.