Leeds Tech Careers Launchpad

Image of attendees at Leeds Tech Careers Launchpad event hosted at BJSS
Employment & Skills Leeds have worked collaboratively with Northcoders to deliver a mini-series of events to help inspire and inform a new group of tech talent

In an effort to extend the impact of digital careers awareness beyond the annual Leeds Digital Careers Fair, a series of smaller-scale events has been initiated throughout the year. These events, organised in collaboration with tech bootcamp provider, Northcoders and featuring guest speakers, aim to engage with a diverse range of people who are new to a career within the industry to introduce them to tech employers and career opportunities. The event series was titled Leeds Tech Careers Launchpad. 

The sessions are open to all but planned to be of particular interest to people finishing education and unsure on what next steps to take, career-changers and returners and people not currently in the labour market but keen to understand options for gaining employment in the growing tech sector.  

Goals of the event series include: 

  • Introducing tech careers  
  • Raising awareness of tech career entry routes and increasing tech skills  
  • Help people recognise transferrable skills which complement the sector  
  • Provide insider perspectives on getting hired in tech  
  • Sharing tips on building a career development plan  
  • Examples of role models who have entered and pivoted into tech careers  

The event series kicked off in March providing event attendees with an overview of ‘routes into tech’. The agenda provided a brief introduction to the range of tech career options, transferrable skills and skills pathways, with Northcoders discussing their coding bootcamp and Accenture sharing insight into their tech academy as part of an interactive panel session.  

Tech Careers Launchpad 2.0 getting noticed in tech took place in June hosted at Accenture. Guest speakers included Corecom Consulting, Graft Talent and Rachel Skelton of WILD Digital to share CV do’s and don’ts, the key to getting out of your own way and creating your personal brand.  

3.0 Getting Hired in tech was the third event session, hosted at BJSS with them as one of the guest speakers alongside Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Glean to share insights into tech recruitment, with tips and tricks for applications and interviews.  

The event series concluded in December, hosted at AND Digital with a topic of ‘Progressing in Tech’. A panel of guest speakers shared a variety of experiences of working and progressing in the tech sector. IBM SkillsBuild discussed their free upskilling courses, creating a career development plan was presented from Northcoders and how to recognise your self-worth was delivered by AND Digital.  

Each session has remained informal with a chance for attendees to network over lunch and refreshments following the speakers and presentations. These have been well received with guests able to ask questions one to one with industry experts and build new connections.  

Over the four events in 2023, there were 17 guest speakers and 102 people engaged during the series. Visitor feedback from the post event evaluation has been positive, with most attendees rating their overall event satisfaction as good or outstanding. The Tech Careers Launchpad series is planned to return in 2024, following the same topic themes with different guest speakers involved.