We all know that feeling; the Job hunting fatigue. You can run into it when editing a CV, writing a cover letter, or submitting application no. 113 — not to mention doing all this amid a global pandemic. It’s been over a year since the pandemic struck, and for many organisations, adapting to online is no longer a crisis response — but a blueprint for the future. New business models, products, and even industries have already arisen as a result, and the call for a dynamic and digitally savvy workforce is more urgent than ever before.
Makers are dedicated to ensuring the next generation of tech talent has the necessary skills to succeed in the digital economy, and it’s one of the reasons we work so closely with our hiring partners. We want to match employers with diverse, job-ready software engineers that have both life experience and in-demand skills. It’s also vital for students to understand what companies look for in software developers, and be given a chance to ask key questions relating to the culture and team dynamic of the companies they’re applying to.
So what better way to merge the two, other than at (drumroll please) the Makers Careers Fair!
On Thursday the 18th of November, our hiring partners and Makers graduates gathered at Shoreditch’s historic Toynbee Hall for our first all-day in-person Careers Fair since the pandemic. For some recent grads, it was the first time they’d had a chance to meet other members of their cohort and coaches face-to-face — and the room was buzzing with energy.
After a relaxing morning of coffee and pleasant introductory conversations between students and employers, the day was underway.
The two-part event featured presentations by various companies, including, Nested, Flutter, Workforce.com, Kin & Carta, The Upside, Capgemini, and BCB. Each company talked us through their product strategy, work culture, training and onboarding processes — followed by a Q&A to give our graduates some insight into what life at their company might look like.
There were many familiar faces among the presenters, including Emily Sesto from Flutter and Mellisa Pereira from Kin & Carter — who are both Makers alumni! Melissa spoke about her experiences following the Makers bootcamp, expressing her delight in getting to “work in an agile team, similar ways of working which are mirrored at Makers.”
Hiring practices are evolving — particularly in the tech sphere. So, it’s important to keep our Makers up-to-date on how to leverage themselves into the recruitment process — and there are definitely some hiring practices we want to see the back of in 2022!
A theme of the discussion was the challenges faced in the tech industry following the pandemic, and how companies plan to tackle them. With that being said, no one shied away from revealing what positions they had open and what qualities they desire in candidates. Among the many insights gathered from the presentations, it was clear that people are at the centre of everything these businesses do collectively.
Hiring partners were frequently asked how adaptable their working from home practices are, and almost all of them said that they would remain agile and flexible with a hybrid approach. Software engineers are embracing the hybrid working lifestyle as it offers them the best of both worlds, and sometimes provides greater benefits compared to working constantly on-site.
The presentations wrapped up, and the companies went to their stations for the networking portion of the day.
During the networking break, we caught up with some of the employers to learn more about why they come to Makers directly to hire our graduates. According to Morgan from Nested, Makers developers “ have a broad experience of the stack, good quality practices, and great problem-solving skills. They are product-focused people and are very quick learners.”
When asked what they liked most about hiring Makers, Corey Latislaw, Director of Engineering Management at Kin and Carta, spoke highly of Makers students “experience with test-driven development.” She also “loves that Makers are career switchers, which means they have lots of soft skills that serve them well when working at a consultancy.”
“The enthusiasm we get from Makers is different from uni graduates”, stated Senior Developer Nico Mezerat from Flutter. He emphasised that “from a practical point of view the turnaround with uni is too slow and with Makers, we can hire all year round. They have a good ability to learn and pairing together, it comes naturally to them.”
New to the block hiring partner, BCB, was enthusiastic about joining the team and beginning their journey to hire Makers, “what attracted us was the training and development support, diversity, flexibility and all the support they get along the way.”
Our 2021 Careers Fair was undoubtedly a memorable one, and we can’t wait to do it all over again in the new year!
The demand for tech talent is only going to grow in 2022. Companies across tech are looking to future-proof their teams with exceptional, diverse talent — and that just happens to be our forté.
We offer a range of bespoke, end-to-end talent solutions helping companies of all sizes to grow their tech team. Head here to find out more!
