Digisheds celebrates first cohort graduates’ jobs with Methods
With issues around employment, particularly for young people, high on the agenda right now, it’s reassuring that organisations like TIN Smart Social (TSS) and Methods have been thinking ahead, long before Covid times, to create their own good news stories.
In the West Midlands, the collaboration between TSS and Methods, through its Digisheds Can Do Digital employability programme, sees five young people from the first cohort, accepting offers from Methods to start in Service Desk, ServiceNow System Administrator and Junior Developer roles in August.
Can Do Digital is an accessible, inclusive and free three-phased digital employability programme (Transition/Employability/Sector Ready Studio) for 16-30 year olds, from disadvantaged backgrounds. Tailored specialist experiential learning supports young people to move into work in either Professional and Cloud Services; Creative, Film, Media and Gaming or Digital Manufacturing and Construction and digital skills training is complemented with wraparound wellbeing support provided by Brathay Trust. The programme aligns with employers looking for new digital talent to accelerate growth and a ready to go workforce with the right skills, understanding of work relationships and resilience to meet post-Covid business challenges.
Engaging employers such as Methods (in collaboration with ServiceNow) from Day 1 and developing programmes that understand and reflect their specific and immediate business growth needs, as well as that of the wider sector, means they are far more invested, in every sense, not only in the outcomes of the young people, but also in their development journeys.
Kate Robertshaw, Head of Curriculum Delivery and Design at TIN Smart Social says,
“Young people want ‘training’ to be meaningful and to map to a work pathway – not training for training’s sake. Digisheds delivers experiences to transform their raw digital talent into marketable propositions and working with forward-thinking partners like Methods UK has supported them personally to develop, position and promote their skills within a relevant business context – and to understand business culture and objectives. We can’t thank the incredible team at Methods UK enough for their unwavering and generous support.”
Ann Gaskell, Executive Director from Methods adds,
“Methods is committed to social impact and is proud to be partnering with TIN Smart Social and the Can Do Digital Programme which supports disadvantaged young people into work in a truly practical way. Being able to engage with and understand what these young people are looking for from employment, and work with them to help shape their skills for the roles we need has proved to be insightful and rewarding. We are delighted to be able to offer roles which utilise their newly acquired technical skills as well as developing the soft skills which are so important in the workplace. This programme gives Methods a dynamic and more diverse and inclusive new talent pipeline.”
There’s more to come, this is just the start. We are watching TIN Smart Social Cohort 2 – exciting times ahead!!
About TIN Smart Social
TIN Smart Social is a digital skills and talent-consulting agency built in 2015 as a response to market failures in the delivery of sustainable and scalable digital literacy and employability routes to in-demand jobs, especially for excluded and disadvantaged groups.
Employers are actively and regularly involved in programmes, including Can Do Digital (with new cohorts starting on a regular basis) – as mentors, coaches and ultimately as destinations for work. So in addition to attracting, assessing and accrediting young people interested in work in the digital and creative industries, they are aligned with employers within those industries who have entry-level positions to fill and their development is aligned for a ‘MatchFit’ to those roles.