Myth-Busting Digital Careers
for Young People

Can you tell us a bit about your background? Did you always want to work in digital or technology?

No, I was never really interested in the technical side of things, I always thought other people have much better skillsets for that than me. I studied Criminology and Psychology at university so I’ve always been interested in people, and I knew I wanted to work with people. I played a lot of video games growing up and still do now, but never thought that I would work with technology. But after university, I heard about a Graduate Project Manager opportunity through a contact and my career has grown from there.

Now I have experience of many different roles and projects at Netcompany, from project management to project office support and communications, which is really important to keep the client informed about the progress of a project. So now in my capacity as a Delivery Lead I act as a bridge between the developers and the client, almost translating between the two, and putting both my people and organisational skills to good use.

Why do you think events like Girl Tech Leeds are so important to engage young people with the digital & tech sector?

For me, it’s all about challenging stereotypes about the industry, and demystifying what it means to work in tech; you’re not sat in a basement coding with a black screen and green text like you’re in the matrix. Yes, there’s always room for techy people; if you love coding, that’s great, we need you! But if that side of it isn’t for you then you will still be able to find your place in the sector. We also need people who can problem solve, who are good with people, who can keep things running on time, who can support clients, and so much more.

No matter what your skills are, there’s something for you within the industry. So, events like Girl Tech help to change perceptions among young people, especially young women, about what it’s actually like working in tech.

How do you think events like Girl Tech Leeds and programmes like Growing Talent Digital Leeds help to overcome skills and diversity challenges at a company and industry level?

At a company level, it’s great to develop our future talent pipeline and get young people interested in a future career at Netcompany. At an industry level, it’s so important that we have as many different people with as many different perspectives and life experiences as possible join the industry and help shape its future. Everyone will have a different way of doing something, and a different way of thinking and that’s what we need in the industry. Technology is advancing so quickly that someone who’s just starting now will have so much more exposure to technology than I had when I was starting my career so their perspective will be so different to mine.

That’s what’s so great about Girl Tech and Growing Talent Digital Leeds; there are so many businesses that come together and get involved, all bringing something different to the table. At Netcompany we’re just one part of the IT sector working in Digitisation, but the industry is so vast, so it’s great to see so many other areas of the sector represented at Girl Tech and in the Growing Talent Digital Leeds programme, we can all learn from each other. There’s something for everyone and it’s about showing young people that there’s no one-size-fits-all all for tech.

What advice would you give to a young person who’s considering a career in digital or tech?

There’s no such thing as a stupid question. Ask all the questions you can, because the chances are that someone else in the room has the same question but they’re too afraid to ask. So, you won’t just be helping yourself by asking questions, you’ll probably be helping others too. And one question can lead to another and if it furthers your understanding of the topic then keep asking questions.

And finally, if you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

There’s no rush. Take your time and do something you’re interested in. I’m so glad I took the path that I did, it was different to what I was expecting but I knew I wanted to work with people and now I get to work with people every day. I work amongst some fantastic people, and they make every day a dream!

Emily will be volunteering at Girl Tech Leeds in May, sharing her career journey, expertise and passion for digital with young women from schools across Leeds. If you’d like to learn more about Girl Tech, please visit aheadpartnership.org.uk/girl-tech or speak to Suzie Bell about sponsorship opportunities: enquiries@aheadpartnership.org.uk