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Cognizant Skills Accelerator

Kickstart your tech career with Cognizant Skills Accelerator

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How Cognizant invests in you

Cognizant Skills Accelerator is a collection of rigorous, asynchronous fast-tracked technology learning pathways tailored for professionals without computer science degrees looking to upskill in preparation for a career in tech.

Selected participants should expect to spend 7-15 hours per week developing their new skill by completing exercises, tests, projects and homework.

We are now accepting applications for our upcoming Skills Accelerator session taking place January 24 through March 14, 2025. Submit your interest in our GenAI Pathway by December 13, 2024.

Apply now
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Why you should join the Cognizant Skills Accelerator

  • Earn digital badges per course and final program certificate that can be shared on your resume and on social media 
  • Meet Cognizant leaders during speaker series 
  • Exceptional participants will be shortlisted for an opportunity to apply for a full-time paid apprenticeship opportunity with Cognizant 
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About our Java Full-Stack Pathway

This pathway includes weekly live learning sessions, webinars and a Cognizant speaker series within an engaging learning community. By the end of this program, you will have a range of in-demand Java development skills, including parallel computing, aspect-oriented programming, spring framework, REST and Web APIs and Java Unit Testing/Mocking (Junit, Mockito).

A 9-week, part-time virtual learning experience comprised of the five classes below: 

Assessment Course: Java Fundamentals

Advanced Java Programming

Spring Boot Basics

Web Services and APIs (application programming interfaces)

Java Application Deployment

Frequently asked questions

Ideal for individuals seeking a career change into tech, we welcome diverse, ambitious people ready to dive into the world of emerging technologies.

The following criteria are required to be considered for the program:  

  • Bachelor's degree or 4 years of work experience with an associate degree or Military equivalency training  
  • Permanent work authorization in the United States
  • Working knowledge of object-oriented programming, including variables, loops, conditionals, arrays and method, functional programming, concurrency, design patterns. 

  • Highly motivated and self-directed learner 
  • Initiative-taker who can think beyond what’s possible 
  • Ability to work alongside multi-disciplinary teams 
  • Strong aptitude for technology and desire to work with emerging tools 

Yes! Cognizant Skills Accelerator is fully virtual and designed for working professionals. Selected candidates can expect a weekly time commitment of 7-15 hours. 

You will have the opportunity to apply for an open Cognizant Apprenticeship role in software development. 

Participants are required to have a laptop or desktop computer with internet access. Hardware Specs: Mac 10.13+ or Windows Professional 10+—no Linux—with at least dual processors (quad preferred) that are i5 or higher (i7 or higher preferred), and at least 8 GB Ram (16 GB preferred). You must be able to download programming resources to your laptop/desktop for this training.  

Giving one million workers an edge on tomorrow

We are committed to encouraging diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, and we believe that different perspectives drive innovation and lead to greater success. Our associates' diverse backgrounds offer varied perspectives and fuel new ways of thinking. This experience is aligned to our newly launched Synapse program – an exciting new skilling program that aims to train one million workers across the globe on new technology advancements so they are powered for change. 

Explore our Synapse program