Last week we officially launched She Codes Plus in Sydney, our six month coding program designed to supercharge the tech careers of its participants. Running for the first time in Sydney, thanks to our strategic partnership with Virtual Gaming Worlds (VGW). Tucked inside the Central Station building is the beautiful event and coworking space The Quantum Terminal, our home for the event launch. With over 60 women in attendance, plus representatives from VGW and a surprise visit from VGW Founder and Chairman, Laurence Escalante, the room was abuzz with energy.
After some drinks, nibbles, and fantastic conversations, the launch kicked off with some info about the Sydney Plus program (see the info pack here) presented by our Founder Kate Kirwin. “I’m excited to be bringing this program to Western Sydney this year.” She shared. “We’ve had a huge swell of support from Sydney since announcing that we were coming a few weeks back, and there is a clear need for opportunities in the area.”
“We ran a workshop in Sydney at Fishburners earlier in June which sold out, and they were possibly the most engaged group of women we’ve ever seen at an event, which is amazing to see for our first Sydney program!” Kate continued.
Joining us was Jacob Gough, Talent Acquisition Lead for VGW, who shared some of his experiences working for VGW and the roles and opportunities within the business – by all accounts there are plenty of opportunities for women in Sydney interested in a career in tech. We were also joined by She Codes alumni Bronwyn Achemedei (Perth, 2020), Ellen Marinko (Perth, 2020) and Isobel Young (Brisbane, 2020) who, post-program have all secured roles in tech. Bronwyn, Ellen and Isobel shared their experiences in the program, including the highs and lows, some of their learnings and their key takeaways.
Post-program Bronwyn and Ellen secured roles at VGW as software developers in Perth, while Isobel moved from Brisbane to Sydney as part of the CommBank graduate program in Emerging Technologies.
Some of the questions that came from the audience included “What does a “day in a life” of a software engineer look like?”, “Would you do loads of googling throughout your classes?” (spoilers – the answer is yes!), and “What are some things your new colleagues have done to help you grow as a software engineer?”.
Applications for the She Codes Plus program in Sydney will be open until August 8th, at shecodes.com.au/she-codes-plus-sydney-2022-program/. Plus, we are holding a special virtual info night on July 13th to answer all your questions about the program. Registrations are essential, RSVP here.