Readying the next generation
for a future in digital

In an era where technological advancements have progressed like never before, working in a digitally skilled role – or getting one’s foot in the door – remains difficult for many.

Leveraging the valuable partnerships that exist between educators and sector organisations will be key to solving this. When done effectively, these partnerships can help develop skills, expand the job search and increase sector awareness. This is an illustration of how, through collaboration with Ahead Partnership, Leeds City College has been fostering inclusive digital skills training initiatives across the Leeds City Region.

The digital sector is grappling with a nationwide skills shortage, prompting employers to seek experienced professionals who can drive innovation and maintain competitive advantage. A downside of this is how it may leave less experienced individuals without opportunities to gain crucial experience. Almost 80% of tech roles advertised in 2022 were at senior level, potentially hindering graduates from accessing entry-level roles and preventing those at earlier stages of their career from gaining valuable workplace experience.

Recognising there was a need to bridge this gap between students and employers, we organised networking events as part of Growing Talent Digital Leeds, a collaborative programme designed and delivered by Ahead Partnership to allow for the exploration of specific roles in digital and the tasks they may undertake. At one careers panel, Digital and IT students had the opportunity to ask questions to a number of organisations, including Aire Logic, IMG and West Yorkshire Police. The discussion ranged from the top two skills employers look for in a candidate to the panellists’ own career journeys and the projects they’ve been involved in. We found that facilitating these relationships not only deepened our students’ understanding of prospective job roles, but also empowered employers to share valuable insight, knowledge and experiences.

Cyber security and software development are two typical professions that come to mind when you think of a career in digital. However, people don’t realise that over 36% of positions in the digital workforce involve non-technical occupations, including sales, user experience and product management. Colleges are uniquely placed to equip students with this broad range of skills needed to thrive in both technical and non-technical roles across the sector, allowing us to encourage early consideration of these careers by pointing students towards areas with high demand and less competition.

At the very least, it’s time to highlight the diverse range of digital roles people can choose to pursue. The demand for big data, for example, has been on a steady rise for the last few years and getting more people trained in data management would enable businesses and organisations across various sectors to benefit from improved analytics and insight. Fortunately, there’s strong demand for more training in this area. At a recent Women In Tech workshop which was part of Girl Tech On Tour for International Women’s Day, almost half of the visitors signed up to the Project Management With Data course, citing the transferable nature of using data to gain intelligence as a motivating factor.

Suzie Bell, Ahead Partnership, works closely with Leeds City College to provide diverse perspectives from industry to help inform students about the reality of technical and non-technical roles in digital. She said: “A large part of our work is challenging stereotypes and showing young people what a career in digital is really like. Of course, there is demand for coders and technical skills, but the industry also needs people with excellent communication skills, problem-solving skills, and design thinking skills, amongst others. By connecting young people with diverse role models from industry and creating hands-on activities, we create an environment where young people can develop those essential skills and gain insight into the industry from those who are in it.”

Masterclasses remain an effective tool in preparing students for the workplace, providing a taste of the type of work they could expect to undertake. An interactive session with Netcompany, as part of Growing Talent Digital Leeds, saw 60 students engage in a fictional exercise based on the role of an IT specialist, requiring critical thinking in order to come up with a realistic solution to a future technological threat. At another Growing Talent Digital Leeds workshop, this time with Accenture, 40 students were tasked with using a form of technology – such as artificial intelligence (AI) or smartphones – to solve an issue experienced by consumers today.

Such sessions are pivotal to increasing the readiness of young people for the future workforce, enabling them to learn how issues in modern society are used to forecast and advance the digital sector. Whether it’s the ideation, development or implementation stage of the process, masterclasses can successfully teach students the skills needed to enter future employment with confidence.

Cheryl Macfarlane is the Deputy Head of Apprenticeships and Projects in Digital and IT at Leeds City College, part of Luminate Education Group. For more information about how you can be involved in future digital skills initiatives, email cheryl.macfarlane@leedscitycollege.ac.uk.