<aside> 🎯 The BT furtHER Diversity Programme was a pilot programme which focused on rebooting the gender gap in the tech industry and giving women the chance to take command of a career in full-stack development.

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<aside> 📣 Established in partnership with **Code First Girls** under the leadership of the then CEO **Amali de Alwis** alongside BT pioneers for gender diversity Rowan Fyfe and **Louise Richer,** BT furtHER was a life-changing, women-only coding course which ran from November 2018 to March 2019.

Over these 4 months, we helped to bring on board over 30 absolute beginners to be professionally trained as junior software developers through the intensive programme.

As a key member of the Code First Girls project team, it was our job to lead the recruitment process in the role of Talent Acquisition Project Manager. The top-line deliverables were:

Creating the entire assessment framework, recruitment assets, hiring documentation and guidance for the pilot project.
Executing the full end-to-end recruitment process both externally (candidate-facing) and internally (BT as the client), as well as reporting to senior-level BT stakeholders in the C-Suite.
Managing the offers, pre-employment screening and onboarding for candidates joining the programme. </aside>

CHALLENGES (2).png

<aside> 🚨 As a pilot project, BT agreed to accept applicants without a Degree and/or any previous coding experience to encourage both gender and ethnic diversity within its technology function in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Like with any pilot programme, we found a few bugs along the way, including:

Engaging diverse female audiences to consider and apply for the opportunity - as this was a pilot programme, there was initial hesitancy from applicants.
A limited budget for advertising and marketing, combined with confusion between the traditional graduate scheme BT offers.
The requirement for a customised end-to-end recruitment process that increased and promoted the number of diverse applicants.
The need for a highly bespoke assessment framework for BT interviewers to use during the 2nd-stage interview.
The creation of an onboarding plan for all entrants based on their preference to be situated in Ipswich in England, Swansea in Wales or Belfast in Northern Ireland after the course finished. </aside>

<aside> 🎯 Quickly, we realised that the BT furtHER Programme required an ultra-unique approach to crack the code and achieve the programme’s main goal.

Owing to a limited budget for advertising and marketing, we settled on three primary channels to amplify and encourage applicants.

Three primary channels to the talent market

We based the bespoke applicant assessment on a framework that was designed based on core values and mindset.

Bespoke applicant assessment framework

Internal BT Development Leads and/or Heads of Function were also engaged in the interview process.

The interview process engagement process

The final part of the hiring process followed a swift 2-step approach that encouraged candidates to engage and apply.

Two-step applicant process

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<aside> 💻 The BT FurtHER Programme sparked the ambitions of over 30 women with the interest, motivation and capability to become full-stack developers. All they needed to thrive was the opportunity, support and confidence to do so.

The programme was such a HUGE success that Code First Girls continues to deliver the same partnership programme with Global technology clients today.

As for the original Cohort 1 members, you may be wondering: where are they now?

Amina Aweis - Accessibility Specialist, Thomson Reuters
Aminat Amoo - Senior Software Engineer (DevOps), Permutive
Ellen Macpherson - Software Engineer, Pioneera
Fabiana Lassandro - Front End Developer, Ticketmaster
Harriet Ellis - Software Engineer, Amazon
Iza Pastuszynska - Full Stack Software Developer, Tails.com
Jennifer Opal - DevOps Engineer, Dropbox
Kate Sorotos - Senior Onboarder, KBOX Global
Katharina Wiedmann - BI Engineer (II), GoCardless
Kirsty Bradley - Data Engineer, Booking.com
Loren Bristow - Services Leader, UK FSI, Dataiku
Mabel Li - Software Engineer, Ministry of Justice
Magdalena Kafel - Service Delivery Manager, Kyndryl
Mariana Stoiovici - Software Developer Apprentice, Google
Martina Fernandez - Software Engineer, BT
Melisa Ozyurt - Software Engineering Degree Apprentice, BAE Systems
Muna Hassan - Scala Developer, ITV
Ottilie Williams - Full Stack Developer, Kinesis
Rachel Winkler - Back End Engineer, Thought Machine
Sarika Sarvia - User Centred Designer, Perago
Seraphine Young - Solutions Engineer, HashiCorp
Tilly Oswell-Wheeler - Software Engineer, Palantir Technologies </aside>

The BT furtHER Timeline 📈

<aside> 💡 Below, you’ll find the full inspirational story documented week by week.

📲 Let’s connect to talk

<aside> 💬 Are you thinking of recharging your talent and people strategy in 2024? Our Human-Centred Project Talent Solution is proven to identify, activate, attract, and engage the best talent for your rapidly scaling startup or scale-up business.

If that sounds of interest to you, we’re open to a friendly, non-committal chat about your hiring ambitions.

Reach out today at…

Glenn Martin, I’m the Founder and CEO of Never Mind The Job Spec

Mobile/WhatsApp: +44 (0) 7834 786 889

Email: [email protected]

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<aside> 📢 DISCLAIMER: The full scope and details of the BT furtHER programme is the proprietary information of Code First Girls. Therefore, I can disclose details in conversation, however I am unable to provide the full details here.

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