FileMaker, Inc. (www.filemaker.com), a subsidiary of Apple, and 42 Silicon Valley have announced a partnership to develop the next generation of custom app developers. The partnership is a strategic move to recruit the area’s top tech talent, gain digital and human competitive advantages, and feed recruiting pipelines for FileMaker Business Alliance partners.

FileMaker, Inc. will host students and staff from 42 Silicon Valley on Apple’s campus as part of the partnership launch. Students will view an introduction to custom app development and to the curriculum of the training the selected 42 Silicon Valley students will receive. Students will then complete six month internships with FileMaker Business Alliance Partners during which they’ll be tasked with creating custom apps to solve real business challenges.

“By partnering with 42 Silicon Valley, we are able to connect their talented developers with our FileMaker community in what is truly a win-win situation,” says Brad Freitag, vice president of Worldwide Sales at FileMaker, Inc. and executive sponsor of the partnership. “These students will get exposed to the real-life custom app development work that FileMaker partners are doing across industries, and it will introduce them to the unique aspects of the FileMaker platform. At the same time, the FileMaker community gets the opportunity to work with a new breed of ambitious young developers.”

“Apps are no longer a nice-to-have; they are a necessity for competitive advantage. Data is essential to making the kind of decisions needed to maintain and grow business profitability, he added. That’s largely why the company is offering custom app development and professional services to its Business Alliance partners.

“We don’t care that students don’t have degrees,” said Freitag. “The way the 42 program is designed, as an employer, you have confidence in the knowledge and capacities 42 students have when you recruit because their entire program is mastery-based. These students are resourceful, creative, problem-solvers, and autonomous, everything you want in a developer.”