- One Careers Pathway to rule them all — Tech Cornwall highlights brand new upskilling programme designed to help people looking to change their career trajectory, whether they’re in current employment, unemployed or underemployed.
- Tech Cornwall says ED&I and social mobility sets the course apart, and that it’s all about “encouraging people to think that they absolutely can be part of the growing tech sector.”
- Funded by the Shared Prosperity Fund, its self-directed and free-to-participate-in course kicked off in September 2024.
- There are 4 career pathways on offer which cover the main industries in Cornwall: web dev, embedded systems, data science & AI, and dev ops.
Flexibility is the name of the game
And the key to success for participants on Tech Cornwall’s Career Pathways programme, as course lead Toni Coppen states. She goes on to say that “the programme is designed to be completely flexible with your current commitments, whether that’s work, care obligations, health management or something else. The programme itself is self-directed, offering a whole range of different resources which can be accessed through our learning platform, called the Tech Learning Community, in your own time. But we also hold practical workshops and coaching sessions, both online and in the evenings to make it easy for all to attend.”
ED&I in the tech world
Tech Cornwall’s first cohort has a 50/50 male to female split, with varying levels of experience, backgrounds, employment situations and age ranges (currently from 20 to 60+ years old!). According to the team though, what’s most important is that participant’s come with a growth mindset;
“We’re looking for a willingness to learn, an enthusiasm, a drive. Some people start having never seen a line of code, but if they have the motivation to learn and level up, then they could go far. Of course, regardless of tech ability, each participant brings a huge amount of transferable skills with them that can be nurtured and adapted to fit in the wider range of tech roles on offer here in the region. Because at the end of the day this programme signifies the start of a journey… We’re not only training people for current roles, but also ones that might not even exist yet, or potentially could in the next few years. Such is the nature of the ever-changing tech world. It’s only right that the people selected for the programme show that desire to continue learning and upskilling.”
“It is important to note that we do see a lot of programmes which filter people out, and cherry pick certain participants. Whilst you do need a certain amount of talent / motivation / natural ability to take on and complete the learning, you don’t need to be the finished article. The course is here to help you get to that point!”
Social mobility in Cornwall and beyond
As part of the growing tech cluster in Cornwall, with 100+ active business members, the team believes they can make a positive impact in the region’s tech industry (and hopefully beyond!) by building connections within the local community. With events such as tech jams and more recently, Cornwall’s Festival of Tech, those eager to break into the industry have some great opportunities to network and meet key industry insiders.
Alongside individual career coaching sessions, online training and career management skills workshops for the participants, the team at Tech Cornwall is putting in the work on their side to encourage businesses to open their minds to hiring less ‘experienced’ applicants. Whilst they don’t necessarily have the required 3-5 years of experience, Toni’s team is keen to show that the local talent is willing and ready to serve in the sector, so long as they are given the opportunity to do so. Because who better to fill the skill gaps for certain programming and technical roles than someone who has actively made a decision to enter or switch to the tech industry?
This has been a successful mission so far, with employers who recruited through Tech Cornwall’s programmes returning to set projects for new cohorts of learners and help them build their portfolios.
Filling the skills gap
Tech skills are learnt over a long period of time, so traditional routes can be quite restrictive and slow moving. Reflecting on this programme and the success of their previous ones, the team believes they have a scalable way of reducing this gap, which would also support the diversification and growth of the economy in Cornwall.
As Holly Patton Director and Co-CEO of Tech Cornwall says, “the tech sector has not always engaged particularly well with accredited pathways. Because it’s such a quick moving sector, traditional apprenticeships and accredited routes struggle to deliver industry standard skills, it can take years to develop a curriculum and get it approved. We’ve all seen how quickly the AI explosion happened so it’s hard for qualifications to keep up and stay relevant. However, we believe our model can deliver the accredited training with more added value and engagement with industry, ensuring it’s fit for purpose and produces skilled individuals who are able to gain well paid employment. All the while supporting the growth of the sector!”
Looking to the future
The model is currently funded by the Shared Prosperity Fund, so the future of the programme may be impacted if additional funding cannot be found. But Holly is quick to highlight that “cost per head is a lot more cost effective than some other programmes and can be diversified to include additional pathways according to job market demands. By scaling Career Pathways we can increase the number of learners through the pathways to boost the tech sector but also to support the development of other growth sectors such as space, marine and clean energy as tech skills are vital in these sectors. We’re also looking at whether we can use the model to deliver accredited pathways, without losing that all important flexibility, and industry level engagement.”
Businesses in the Cornwall tech cluster — we want to hear from you! Partner with the Career Pathways programme to connect with talented, motivated candidates.
Unlock a new pipeline of diverse tech employees to meet your hiring needs — reach out to the Tech Cornwall team today at [email protected].
