The Naked Element team was up bright and early (well, early anyways) to take part in the first MyTech event in Norwich. Organised by Inspired Youth, the event aimed to bring local tech industries and interested students together for networking and advice.
After DevelopHER‘s Vickie opened the event, our director Paul was part of the first panel of employers answering questions about their career path and industry sector. After that we met with students for the rest of the morning, answering questions and giving advice where we could.
We were between DevelopHER Code Club and Develop, meeting each of the small groups of students in turn. It was interesting to hear that there was lots of interest in computer science, with many of the pupils in attendance studying it at GCSE, but many said they were not considering going to university.
The most common question we were asked over the day was if programming and coding needed specific qualifications. Our answer was ‘not as far as we’re concerned!’ An interest in code and a passion to learn is vital, as is some evidence that tech is something that fascinates you. A program you’ve written, or computer you’ve fixed, is worth much more than a high grade.
Hopefully the students we met today got something useful from the day and perhaps we’ll be seeing them on the tech scene very soon!