How Virtual Work Experience Makes a Career in Technology Accessible

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22nd July 2020

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3 minutes

This year, we have worked together with Tata Consultancy Services to offer students across the UK a week-long, virtual work experience programme, for over 21,000 young people.

Addressing future skills shortages

TCS are a large, global technology company working in networking and cyber security solutions, meaning their work experience offering will also help to address the future skills shortages within the tech industries.

This topical virtual solution will show students how they use their technology to help companies of all sizes transform how people connect, communicate, and collaborate.

The need to pivot

During this time, it’s important that TCS continue to introduce underrepresented young people to the world of work, the world of TCS, and that we prepare them for a digital world.

Students will collaborate online to tackle real-life and contextual challenges, working their way through modules designed and delivered by our experts and supported by specialists in their field. The immersive digital experience will be hosted on Connectr’s platform, which will provide students with the opportunity to network with one another, as well as industry experts, whilst completing tasks.

Yogesh Chauhan, Corporate Sustainability Director at TCS UK:

“We are excited to be working with Connectr to deliver a cutting-edge virtual work experience event this July. This programme will help Year 12 students from diverse backgrounds develop both their employability skills and their ability to engage with an increasingly digital world, preparing them for the workplace of the future. We are very proud to be able to offer this work experience event at a time when COVID-19 has meant that many young people are suffering from reduced opportunities. Furthermore, we will be sharing the content from the event throughout 2020, to ensure that as many young people as possible benefit.”

Hearing from the experts

Alongside the hands-on work experience modules and challenges, participating students will benefit from a line-up of talks from some of the leading minds in the industry. Guest speakers on board to deliver webinars on subjects such as cybersecurity, include Dr Edewede, Security Analyst at Paysafe Group, Mike Allworth, Senior Business Analyst At Beckman Coulter Life Sciences and Lisa Robinson, Development Manager at Worldpay. All of the speakers involved in the programme will also act as online mentors for students, providing support, advice and guidance.

Commenting on why opportunities like this are so important, Adam Ruhe, Vice Principal at Nishkam High School in Birmingham, said:

“At a time when acquiring work experience with firms is so difficult, we’re grateful that our students have been provided with an opportunity to get first-hand experience in a digital format in such an important industry. The fact that it will be supported by leading industry professionals is very exciting.”

Volunteering opportunity

Additionally, the TCS work experience provides a huge opportunity for specialists in the field to be involved as guest speakers, and through online mentoring. By utilising Connectr’s platform they can gain more volunteer opportunities, partners and experts can interact with students, and provide support & guidance.

Benefits of virtual work experience

From this week, TCS will gain a large pool of young people to engage with during and beyond the week itself. Connectr’s technology enables them to track the student journey and feed into their talent pipeline. For the students, they gain employability, networking and digital skills, and the schools meet their Gatsby benchmarks. By delivering this work experience virtually, they can get more students excited by a career in tech. 

Discover how Connectr can put the human back into your HR strategy.