The Talent Solution Most Enterprises Are Missing Out On

The societal and digital disruption brought about by COVID-19 has changed the way we work. Enterprises are having to reassess how they can develop, hire and invest in talent in their workforce as we move into 2022.

At the same time, employees’ views on career success, mobility and even the meaning of work itself have undergone a seismic change.

In fact, data shows that in the UK alone, the number of job vacancies is at an all-time high, reaching 1,219,000 in November 2021 ”” an increase of 434,500 from pre-pandemic levels.

Against the backdrop of the so-called war for talent’, businesses that want to maintain a competitive advantage over others need to find new and innovative ways of not only attracting top talent, but retaining it as well.

The traditional model

Traditional human resource management relies on a number of accepted ideas about how organisations work. Namely, a person is hired to do a particular job, and answers to a manager, who is in turn managed by someone else ”” all the way up to the top of the traditional hierarchical structure.

On the traditional career path, employees may eventually be promoted and climb the ladder within their chosen profession. A marketing assistant might eventually work their way up to becoming a marketing manager ”” but not an accountant.

And herein lies the problem: an employee is not just a CV. Placing someone in a box based on their job title alone ”” not on their actual skills, experience and personality ”” isn’t useful to anyone.

And while agile talent mobility might be relatively common within a job function (HR, marketing or sales professionals may jump from project to project fairly frequently), it’s rare for people to cross those boundaries and work on a project under a different discipline entirely ”” even when the skills and competencies needed for the role massively overlap.

For example, a data analyst working within a company’s IT department might make a fantastic addition to the team working on marketing analytics ”” but this is rarely the way it works.

The invisible talent problem

When companies need to staff a new project or build a new team, they’ll usually look to bring new talent on board ”” despite the fact they may well already have the skills they need in house.

As Gigged.AI’s CEO Rich Wilson explains: “Because of remote working and a largely distributed workforce, a lot of enterprises have no idea what talent they have internally. There’s so much money wasted by hiring new employees when actually, they’ve got that talent in house”.

Essentially, because of the silos the traditional company structure inevitably creates, enterprises have always found it difficult to understand exactly what skills and talent they’re sitting on.

The internal talent marketplace and the future of work

There are signs, though, that this mindset is beginning to change. Coca-Cola is just one big enterprise that’s starting to do things differently, and actually analysing the skills they have in-house.

These are skills that might not appear on a CV, that might have been picked up in a previous job ”” or a previous career ”” and that might otherwise have remained invisible. By bringing these skills to the surface, Coca-Cola hopes to identify opportunities for employees to have new experiences at work.

More importantly from the company’s perspective, this can help to retain talent as well. As Rich says, “There’s this sense right now that if somebody can make more money elsewhere, they’re going to leave. But people don’t just leave jobs for money ”” they leave because the project they’re working on’s not exciting, or because they’re not utilising certain skills.”

And it’s true: The Work Institute’s 2020 Retention Report found that compensation and benefits was only the sixth most common reason employees gave for leaving their jobs in 2019 ”” the first was career development.

By identifying their workforce’s core skills ”” and linking these with opportunities for employee development and the chance to work on new projects ”” companies can lower not only their staffing costs but their attrition rates as well.

And there are other big benefits to be had from implementing an internal talent marketplace too.

A broadened perspective for managers and employees

Coming into contact with different members of an organisation, either on a short-term basis or through a permanent job move, can broaden perspectives and help employees and management alike to develop positive traits such as empathy. An increase in empathy was the key theme of LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends 2020 report, which also suggested that employees stay at companies with high levels of internal hiring 41% longer than at those with low levels.

Elimination of bias and increased DEI

In the current model, when projects are staffed internally, this is often done on a who-you-know basis ”” according to the LinkedIn report above, 50% of internal recruitment happens because a manager reaches out to an employer they already know.

Naturally, unconscious bias plays a role here, as people are much more likely to refer people who resemble themselves. It can also leave out talented employees who don’t have a strong network ”” but whose skill sets might be a good match for the project. By using an internal talent platform based on a comprehensive skill classification system, you can eliminate that bias and focus on the best person for the role.

Access to a broader talent pool

One of the biggest advantages of using an internal talent marketplace is that it can bring talent that might otherwise have been overlooked to the forefront. Like in the case of Coca-Cola above, enterprises can access skills that their employees may have picked up in previous roles, or transferable skills that could make a person a great fit for a role they might otherwise have been dismissed for due to lack of job-specific experience. As an added bonus, companies can also see a reduction in onboarding and training costs when new hires are already familiar with the business.

Drawbacks and pitfalls

Of course, there are problems with this approach too ”” most notably that it requires significant buy-in from management, employee engagement and a sizeable investment in tech.

Management buy-in

Surprisingly, according to Deloitte’s 2019 Global Human Capital Trends report, 46% of managers resist internal mobility, which can create a talent-hoarding culture ”” a big problem when it comes to implementing a successful internal talent solution.

Companies that want to adopt this approach to talent management, therefore, need to help managers understand that it effectively removes the need to jealously hang on to their top performers because it provides real-time transparency into the skills available within their organisation ”” and the opportunity to build and develop their team’s skills.

Hiring managers need to move away from the traditional talent acquisition model, which simply involves recruiting a candidate to do a particular job, and instead focus on fractionalising’: thinking in terms of projects and the knowledge and skills they require ”” knowledge and skills which may well be present within the organisation already.

Staff buy-in

The second problem is employee engagement, as employees (plus freelancers and contractors) usually need to manually input their details into their organisation’s internal talent platform to appear in searches. Although this might only take a few minutes, there needs to be some encouragement to motivate them to put themselves forward.

Team leaders can start by leading by example and entering their own skills and experience into the system. There should also be some education around the opportunities that the short process of filling in a profile could lead to ”” after all, only 28% of millennials surveyed in 2015 felt that their employer was making full use of their skills.

Tech investment

The last and perhaps most notable problem with implementing an internal talent marketplace at the enterprise level is the tech side. Building a platform in house will almost certainly be a time-consuming, complex, and ”” yes ”” astronomically expensive undertaking.

Thankfully, there is a solution available.

Introducing the Gigged.AI internal talent marketplace

Fresh from a successful pilot with The Data Lab, the Gigged.AI internal talent marketplace launches officially in the summer of 2022 ”” and can help large enterprises, universities and public sector harness the power of internal talent sourcing problems at the enterprise level.

Designed to meet the evolving business needs of companies in the post-COVID world, our white-labelled, data-driven solution allows managers at large enterprises to create a detailed and accurate statement of work using our innovative conversational AI chatbot. Our unique skills-matching algorithm will then use this to find the best people for the job from within your organisation.

You can run a quick check to see what talent you have internally within about 22 seconds ”” 22 seconds that could save your enterprise the thousands of pounds and months of lost time that typically comes with sourcing talent externally.

Gartner predicts that by 2025, 20% of large enterprises will have deployed internal talent marketplaces to optimise their utilisation and agility of talent.

Actuary and Quantitative Finance masters students undertake summer projects proposed and co-supervised by financial services companies.

University of Strathclyde students on the MScs Actuarial Sciences and Quantitative Finance undertake a summer project as part of their MSc. Some projects are co-supervised by industry partners and are based on their business interests.

We are currently seeking ideas from industry for projects taking place in summer 2022.

Companies can be based in the UK or overseas. Companies participating in the scheme in previous years benefited not only from the direct project outputs but also from accessing talented students. This can be a route to recruitment and developing a closer relationship with the university.

The Students benefit from the exposure to business. They see the problems that industry are interested in and get experience working with business. This improves their employability upon completing their MSc.

Project subject matter is flexible. It needs to be quantitative in nature and relevant to the financial sector. Projects last 12 weeks from late May to late August. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, projects and associated meetings may need to be undertaken remotely ”“ this worked very well in summer 2021. Industry supervision can be light touch or more intense, to suit the project and supervisor, though some input is required from the industry. No fees to students or to the University are involved.

Companies submit project ideas to the University and students select and apply for them. Industry Supervisors (remotely) interview students and select the best match. Students are also assigned an academic supervisor. The student’s project plan, final report and oral presentation are judged by both the academic and industrial supervisors.

For summer 2022 projects, ideas are invited from industry by mid-January 2022 using a short pro-forma.

For further information, or if you have any questions, please contact Ian Dwyer by email at ian.dwyer@strath.ac.uk

Photo by ICSA from Pexels

Discovering the Digital Technology Education Charter

The uptake of Computing Science in schools has fallen dramatically over the last decade, along with the rapid decline of Computing Science teachers numbers in Scotland and there are now too many schools in Scotland that do not offer the subject

In contrast, Scotland has an exciting digital tech sector with excellent tech courses at college and university, and an enormous amount of goodwill to help inspire the next generation into the world of tech.

To give you some context behind the motivation of the charter. In Scotland Computing Science at schools is a subject that has experienced a dramatic decline and currently had a very low uptake of pupils picking the subject, a widening gender gap and a decline in Computing Science teacher numbers. There has been a consistent downward trend over the past two decades, it is extremely alarming as the figures below go someway to illustrating;

2001 – 28,393 pupils were studying the subject at schools. As of 2020, we only have 10,228.

2001 – 9,825 females were studying the subject at schools. As of 2020, we only have 2,388.

Computing Science at schools needs immediate attention before it is too late, which I fear is a lot closer than we think.

I am hoping you can help me try to reverse this situation, help inspire the next generation and take part in our National campaign.

The Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review, authored by Mark Logan highlighted a number of challenges Scotland faces with regard to Computing Science at school and puts education at the heart of the solution. The Digital Technology Education Charter recognises that if industry and education can work more closely together and join forces we can make a real impact.

This charter is for individuals, schools, colleges, universities, and organisations of all sizes from all sectors. If you want to do more to help inspire the next generation and encourage them to choose Computing Science then join our charter. Together we can do more, we can make a difference.

Get involved here

How the Open University is supporting employers in Scotland to tackle the digital skills gap

There is a thriving Fintech sector in Scotland ”“ a lot of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are innovating and growing and doing great things. But the sector needs the right skills in order to keep innovating and growing and some of the most business critical skills are in short supply.

With so much demand on skills such as cyber security, coding, data and software development, it can sometimes take time to get the right people onboarded. The Open University’s (OU) Business Barometer 2020 found that 60% of employers are struggling to find the skills they need to fill vacant roles.

But there is the scope to change the situation. Employers recognise that the best way to address talent shortages is not just to buy in skills, but to also build up internal pipelines and so many are embarking on upskilling and reskilling initiatives.

The OU in Scotland works with 260+ local employers, helping with their upskilling and reskilling programmes. They provide high quality, targeted workforce development solutions, helping employers understand and meet their current and future talent and recruitment needs.

“We pioneered the concept of continuous, lifelong learning – an approach that is becoming increasingly popular in the workplace. Our innovative tutor-supported online delivery model works particularly well for employers, maximising the opportunity for new knowledge to be readily and directly applied in the workplace. Many of our programmes have a strong work-based element, meaning that individuals enhance their performance through value-add learning on the job’. We ensure learning is flexible and accessible to all,”

Suzanne McQuade, Business Relationships Manager (Scotland) at the OU

As a result, with over 20,000 students, the OU is the most popular university in Scotland for part-time higher education. They provide different career pathways ”“ graduate and postgraduate courses and also smaller, modular courses that enable people to do chunks of learning and build up to an overall qualification over time.

In terms of digital skills, the OU provides numerous options ”“ free resources on the OpenLearn platform, microcredentials, apprenticeships, modules and qualifications in computing and IT, cyber security and data science, postgraduate modules and qualifications in computing, cyber security and technology management.

There are various funded learning opportunities available in Scotland to support employers and individuals. The graduate apprenticeships, which are a great way for employers to recruit new employees or upskill and reskill the existing workforce, are fully funded. There’s the SAAS part time fee grant available to those with a personal income of £25,000 per annum or less and there’s the Flexible Workforce Development Fund offering SMEs funded training up to the value of £5,000.

It is widely recognised that Covid-19 has exacerbated the need for digital skills. Now is the time for employers to be investing in workforce skills, to help them recover from the pandemic and meet the challenges of the future.

To find out more about how the OU in Scotland can support your workforce development needs, visit www.open.ac.uk/business

How Platform Sourcing can help Fintechs win the War for Talent

Current State

The War for Talent had a ceasefire in early 2020 due to COVID-19 but is now back in full swing. The War for Talent is not new, the term was coined by McKinsey and Company way back in 1997. However, this war has evolved due to the increase in digital initiatives and the rise in remote work smashing down the usual geographical barriers. The most in-demand tech roles for companies across the UK are software developers, web designers and data analysts with AI skills quickly catching up. According to Adzuna in April 2021 there were nearly 10,000 vacancies for software developers, compared to 5,630 at the same time last year. Furthermore, the Gartner 2021 CFO survey found that 74% of CFO’s plan to permanently shift employees to remote work after the Covid-19 crisis ends. Many Fintechs including Revolut have rewrote policies to include fully remote work.

The old solution

Historically when skills are in demand there are a number of tactics large organisations deploy which include but not limited to:

Post more (and more and more) jobs on Linked In
Create a new Preferred Supplier List (PSL) of agencies
Hire contractors from PSL when perm hiring stalls
Referrals schemes
Recruitment open days
Host tech meet ups (obligatory beer and pizza post)
Expensive PR Campaigns to hype up culture and opportunity
Increase Salaries

Now these are all perfectly good solutions if you have lots of time and money. However, most digital initiatives have an end goal to generate revenue. With a lack of key talent then projects start to delay and so does the revenue. This is when most CEO’s and CFO’s start to get interested. This is usually when the big digital consultancies get brought in.

The new solution

There is another way. There is so much talk right now about the “future of work” and there are many debates of what that means. That is for another day, lets focus solely on the platform sourcing element of the future of work. There has been a rise in companies using talent platforms to complete projects using platforms such as Toptal, Freelancer, Innocentive and Upwork. Even NASA use platform sourcing for major software development projects. This has been largely in North America with the UK slow to this model.

A recent Harvard Business School report about building the on-demand workforce states:

“COVID-19 has only accelerated the move away from traditional, pre-digital-era talent models toward on-demand workforce models.”

Also, the well-regarded University of Oxford Report on Platform Sourcing stated there will be rapid growth in the next 5 years on how companies use Platform Sourcing including crowdsourcing and outsourcing platforms. The report focused on research around how Fortune 500 firms are adopting online platforms. The report author Greetje Corporaal found the following benefits:

Providing easy access to a scalable source of manpower, skills and expertise

Platforms provide access to freelancers with highly specialized skills and expertise, making them an attractive option for organizations to quickly and flexibly complement the capabilities of their in-house employees on an on- demand basis.

Reducing start-up and transaction costs

Compared to traditional outsourcing vendors and contracting agencies, platforms substantially lower the start-up and transaction costs of a contract. This allows enterprises to quickly hire freelancers to address project needs.

Eliminating conventional hiring barriers

Platform technologies eliminate or at least reduce geographical, informational, and administrative barriers in the hiring process. This allows their use for projects of shorter length and scope. It facilitates the hiring of freelancers on a more flexible, on-demand basis, and allows managers to bring in new skills and knowledge to the organization that would otherwise have remained outside.

There are factors to be aware of when using platform sourcing:

The work needs to be well defined with milestones and outcomes
Time zones need to be factored in
This does not replace your team but can enhance

In conclusion, the next time you are worrying about the impact that losing the war for talent will have on your projects and ultimately revenue then consider a platform approach. There are a number of UK platform companies including Distributed and the Gigged.AI (I am biased as the CEO). Start small and define your outcomes and this could be game-changer.

Candidate Engagement in Fintech Recruitment

I read recently that in the next four years, The Global Fintech Market is expected to grow at a rate of 23.58%. With news emerging that the Scottish Government has appointed an adviser to assist tech, with £7m earmarked for the project, Scottish Fintech has a great opportunity on its hands to grow.

But this growth will need great talent to sustain it. Talent that will sustain growth and drive innovation – not an easy feat considering the current shortages of candidates across all tech markets.

This shortage isn’t due to slow in the next few years either. In a recent study, The World Economic Forum pointed out that the global talent shortage in technology, media, and telecommunications alone is due to reach 4.3million workers by 2030.

What Does This Mean for Fintech Recruitment?

It means that it’s becoming more difficult to hire top talent and will continue to become harder. We already know that top tech talent hold most of the cards, shortages meaning they have their choice of employers and can command top salaries.

Businesses that want to continue to innovate and stay at the top of their game need the right people to do so. Which means being able to attract and engage the best candidates. But with many businesses in Scotland at the startup or ramping stage, recruitment often doesn’t come top of their list.

Getting the right people in place is a combination of being able to access alternative talent pools, and engaging them and your traditional pools.

How to Improve Candidate Engagement?

The type of people you’re looking for aren’t usually out of a job. Right now, it’s not just candidates who need to impress employers, employers need to impress candidates too. And that means working on your candidate engagement:

Working on Your Candidate Value Proposition

Salary and standard benefits are no longer enough to engage with top talent in the tech space. You need to do more. That means improving your candidate value proposition. What do you offer over and above the competition?

The easiest way to improve your candidate value proposition is to improve your employee value proposition. Use internal surveys to ask your current team what they like about working for you and what you could be doing better. The happier people are at work, the more likely they are to spread good word of mouth among friends and peers.

Changes could be more flexible hours, the ability to permanently work from home, better choice of benefits, company shares (particularly for start-ups), or better work culture. Many people are also looking for more social responsibility from their employers, both with charitable efforts or sustainability.

When you have identified what areas are important to your current team, ensure these are clear on your careers site, on your social media, and in any candidate collateral, you issue.

Put More Effort into Diversity and Inclusion

Currently, just 24% of people working in fintech in Scotland are women. Considering women makeup 51.5% of the population, that figure looks low. Just 1.4% of fintech workers are black and 6.2% Asian. (Solutions Driven 2021)

All of these are untapped, diverse markets that businesses should be engaging with to diversify their talent pools and find candidates their competitors can’t. But do you improve candidate engagement in these areas?

Talk to the diverse people in your current teams – what could you be doing better to make them feel included? Is there anything you’re doing wrong?
Set up diversity groups – is there scope for a women’s panel in the business? Could you set up a diversity workforce?
Embed diversity into your KPIs – set targets for diversity and make them part of your recruitment team’s KPIs.
Improve diversity branding – make diverse figures visible on your website, your social media, and your candidate content.
Improve your language – masculine language using words like “ninja” and “rockstar” turn women off applying for roles. Look at making your language more inclusive.

Spend More Time Engaging Candidates

Candidates like to feel sold to. They want to feel as though joining your business will benefit them and you, and that they’d be a valuable member of the team.

If “candidate engagement” consists of sending a couple of messages or emails, that’s not going to cut it. Much like a sales process, great talent needs multiple touchpoints from your company to attract the candidate. After all, a 2019 survey by Indeed showed that 13% of job seekers have ghosted a business because there wasn’t enough engagement with the hiring manager or recruiter.

If your own team doesn’t have the time to carry out a longer process like this, you need to ensure your recruitment partner does. They must be well-versed in the complexities of tech talent and spend the time and energy showing them why your business is the right one for them.

At Solutions Driven, our candidate engagement works alongside our 6F Methodology, where we ensure someone is right for a role and a company by looking at their compatibility in Fit, Freedom, Family, Fulfilment, Fortune and Future. If someone matches with your business in these areas, they’re more likely to feel an affinity with the business, feel fulfilled, and become long-term employees.

Great candidate engagement has a multitude of benefits for your business. Not only are you more likely to find and attract the talent you need right now, you also build a pipeline of connected talent for the future. If people have a great experience, even if they don’t get the role, they’re more likely to re-apply or be open to an approach further down the line. Word of mouth is vital in smaller sectors and by ensuring your employees, prospects, and potential prospects all have a positive view of your business, you’re setting yourself up for future hiring success, as well as current.

To find out more about how to connect with alternative talent pools, engage candidates, and power your growth, get in touch with Nicki Paterson at Solutions Driven today on npaterson@solutionsdriven.com.

Climate Change Risk in Finance – Edinburgh University

With the ever-increasing demand in the FS Sector, the University of Edinburgh has launched a new, short online executive education course regarding Climate Change Risk in Finance for financial services and fintech professionals. Supported by the Scottish Funding Council, the course is available to a limited number of 50 employees, with places available on the first-come-first-served basis.

Context

With climate-related financial risks ever-increasingly prominent, the effective management of such risks is a primary concern and consideration of investors and regulatory authorities. Topics such as sustainability within financial institutions and markets and climate change impacts in finance are becoming essential for effective decision-making finance professionals. With the University of Edinburgh being a world-leading academic hub for the exploration of how the climate is changing, the impact of this upon the environment, society and economies and thus, how climate adaptation and mitigation strategies are evolving.

About the Climate Change Risk in Finance Executive Education Course 📣:

Topic: the consequences of climate change on finance – how to navigate data, measure risk, gain accurate insights for financial decision making, and capture opportunities related to transitioning to net zero, and the emerging climate-focused fintech products. This course aims to give financial services and fintech professionals the knowledge and confidence to engage with the topics of sustainable finance and climate-related financial risks, to understand their implications, and to take advantage of the opportunities ahead.
This course for You if you are a financial professional working in either asset management, investment or commercial bank, pension funds, insurance, fintech, or similar.
Outcomes: Over the course of 10 weeks, you will:
- Explore theories and practice of sustainable finance and climate-related financial risks.
- Be introduced to climate change fundamentals and terminology.
- Understand how to translate the complex climate information compiled from observations and near- and long-term model predictions for financial decision-makers.
- Understand how to assess and quantify the direct risks arising from climate change on physical assets, businesses, portfolios and supply chains; and also near-term disruptive impacts associated with mitigation policies, changing preferences, and ongoing technological change.
- Understand the impact of climate change on different financial asset classes (equity markets, fixed-income markets, real estate).
- Build confidence in applying learnings for financial decision-making.

Format: 10 ”“weeks long, online course, mix of self-paced materials – pre-recorded and live sessions. Delivered by academic experts & practitioners; facilitated discussions & additional resources
Start date: 3rd of May 2021.
Registration: https://climatechangeriskinfinance.eventbrite.co.uk/
Group bookings: Group discounts are available for colleagues from the same organisation. If you would like to register several participants from one company, please get in touch: Ksenia.Siedlecka@ei.ed.ac.uk
The course fee of £1,500 includes all tuition, guest speaker engagements, and course materials.
Further information:

https://www.business-school.ed.ac.uk/executive-education/climate-change-risk-in-finance

TEDxUniversityofStrathclyde: Event of the Year

Few student-led societies aim to organise a large-scale, international conference but for the past several years that is exactly what TEDxUniversityofStrathclyde has been doing. Operating since 2013, our Annual Ideas Conference is one of the highlights of the academic year and much anticipated by our forward-thinking and engaged global community.

Reflecting on the last twelve months, as a society we have achieved much. Our 2020 ‘Everything Connected’ conference was held on Saturday 14 March, just as the pandemic was taking hold and immediately before the first national lockdown. Our Lead Organiser Sheik Abdul Malik was battling multiple logistical challenges, with speakers flying in from the US and the Middle East he worked tirelessly to ensure we could deliver this outstanding event. The playlist of our 2020 speakers can be found on our dedicated YouTube channel.

Since our inception, we have been hosting our flagship event in and around the city of Glasgow, with last year’s conference being hosted at the impressive Technology and Innovation Centre (TIC) at the University of Strathclyde.

Not only are we well known for holding our events in outstanding venues, but we are also renowned for the quality of our speakers. We have had the great pleasure of inviting those at the cutting-edge of research, CEOs and leaders in business, engineers, activists and even astronauts! However, we are simply looking for an idea that is worth sharing and which will leave our audience inspired to make positive change.

We were overwhelmed by the support of our community last year, with tickets selling out in less than 60 minutes. Confident that we can deliver another brilliant event this year, and with a team of over 50 talented individuals working across multiple areas, from marketing and finance to logistics and curation, we are well underway to achieving our ambitious goals.

Scheduled for the last weekend of September and with an array of commercial partners and sponsors working with us, we are continuing to search for those individuals who have a unique experience or innovative idea they would like to share with our TEDxUniversityofStrathclyde community.

If you are interested in applying to be a speaker at this year’s Annual Ideas Conference, then you can do so here. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday 31 March at 11:59 pm so be sure to get your entries in soon.

If you would like to find out more about the work that we have been doing as well as see a playlist of our talks dating back several years, then visit our website.

We are happy to answer any queries and chat with those interested in working with us further so why not get in touch with us at tedxstrath@gmail.com

We hope to welcome you all to our Annual Ideas Conference and if you would like to keep up to date with our latest progress then you can connect with us on our social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

*****For the included images can you please give photo credit to Sheik Abdul Malik******

University of Strathclyde students undertake fintech summer projects

University of Strathclyde students on the MScs Actuarial Sciences and Quantitative Finance undertake a summer project as part of their MSc. Some projects are co-supervised by industry partners and are based on their business interests.

We are currently seeking ideas from industry for projects taking place in summer 2021.

Project subject matter is flexible. It needs to be quantitative in nature and relevant to the financial sector. Projects last 12 weeks from late May to late August. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, all projects and associated meetings are undertaken remotely ”“ this worked very well in summer 2020. Industry supervision can be light touch or more intense, to suit the project and supervisor. No fees to students or to the University are involved.

For summer 2021 projects, ideas are invited from industry by 12 February 2021 using a short pro-forma.

For further information, or if you have any questions, please contact Ian Dwyer by email at ian.dwyer@strath.ac.uk

Photo by fauxels from Pexels

Fighting inequality and increasing diversity in tech

CodeYourFuture (CYF) is a UK based non-profit organisation that trains refugees, asylum seekers and other disadvantaged people to become web developers and find work in the tech industry. At CYF Scotland, we are on the lookout for new partners and volunteers, as we approach the start of our fifth class in early 2021.

Our mission

Targeting motivated applicants who have limited access to education and are currently underrepresented in the tech sector, CodeYourFuture is not another coding school, it is a community with a mission to fight inequality. In fact, CYF strives to remove as many obstacles to learning as possible for its students: the course is free and students’ costs, such as travel, childcare and internet are covered. Moreover, our 8-month-long part-time course is designed to allow students to fit their studying around other commitments.

Our students

CYF students come from a variety of backgrounds, including:

Refugees or Asylum seekers
Single Parents with low income
Those diagnosed with mental health, learning, or physical disabilities,
Those who live in a household with a total income below the UK poverty line,
Women, minorities, ex-offenders, or anyone else experiencing problems getting the education needed to find meaningful work- including being homeless or long-term unemployed.

Our course

At CYF, the tech curriculum starts from the basics and encompasses front-end and back-end technologies, in order to develop rounded full-stack junior web-developers. Alongside technical development, the CodeYourFuture program places an emphasis on the development of soft-skills and positive habit formation over the duration of the course. Moreover, students are matched with professional mentors who offer them career guidance and support during the course. Employment is one of CYF’s main success benchmarks. Upon graduation, we help our students with CV writing, interview skills, and match them to exciting job opportunities within our partner network and wider community.

Our impact

Despite our focus on remaining an inclusive and diverse volunteer-led community, we pride ourselves on the practical impact we have on people’s career development. So far, in Glasgow, we’ve graduated thirty-nine Full Stack Web Development Bootcamp students, 70% of whom have gone on to further related study or full-time tech employment. Our graduates have gone on to work with organisations such as BBC Scotland, STV and many other companies and startups in Scotland.

We are on course to graduate a further ten students in November, and are almost ready to interview applicants for our largest class yet of thirty students in our next Bootcamp starting in early 2021.

Join us!

To achieve our aims, we have worked with a number of corporate partners over the past few years. In Scotland, we have a special opportunity for partners to sponsor the development of students in our next Bootcamp. We ensure our partnerships are fruitful for everyone involved, with fantastic opportunities to energise your company’s working atmosphere and social impact through things like tailored volunteering opportunities, collaborative workshops and exclusive hiring avenues.

If you are interested in the chance to make an impact in your community and taking concrete action towards increasing diversity in the tech industry, we would love to speak with you.

For more information on how you or your organisation can get involved with CYF from a tech education, career mentoring, soft skills development or sponsorship perspective, contact scotland@codeyourfuture.io.

You can also find further information about CodeYourFuture on our website: https://codeyourfuture.io/.