Our Step into Digital students were treated to a talk from Hollie Whittles, information security & HR director of Purple Frog systems, and junior data engineer Laura Adamson, who came in to speak to students about their experiences working in the digital industry.
The Step into Digital course is a 6-week programme that gives learners a theoretical introduction to the principles of coding. It explores the role of a coder and career paths. The learners are also being taught some coding skills in Python which they are excited about and has given them context to the theory behind coding.
The programme also develops employability skills and customer service skills with a week-long placement at Capgemini. This features a business area host selected to align with their preferred career interests and engaging in a team project designed to enhance their corporate skillset, where they will showcase their team’s project solutions to a panel of Capgemini board members.
Previous Telford College student Hollie has been a director at Purple Frog for 15 years, as well as an award winning TEDx speaker and National Policy Champion for Skills. She also completed a CIPD Level 5 Diploma in Human Resource Management with us in 2021.
“I’m here with Laura to speak to students about the types of roles available in the industry from two different angles, all the different roles in IT and other skills sectors in technology that employers are looking for.
“It’s not necessarily the technical side of things, we are looking for the right workplace skills and attitude, because if you have the right positive can-do attitude, you can do everything else.
“It’s really important that, as an employer, we support Telford College and help show what those pathways into a career in digital look like. Everything we do is about data analytics, AI, machine learnings. We’re trying to be cutting edge in digital technology and helping clients transform their digital presence and offer solutions.”
“Our company is offering apprenticeships, like one of our current employees Annabel Hemingbrough, who won Telford College’s Apprentice of the Year award in 2022. We also offer degree level apprenticeships and vacancies such as data engineer and website developer.
Laura, who’s just finished a masters degree in data science, said “I really enjoy working with Purple Frog, they’re a relaxed company. There’s a lot of extra things we do; we have an Xbox in the break room, we have a 3D printer we can use. Everything is tech related so it shows what else we can do in the industry.”
For more information about our upskilling programmes, contact employability@telfordcollege.ac.uk or call 01952 642554.
