Zopa teams up with Code First Girls to find new tech talent
Zopa has partnered with Code First Girls – the largest provider of free coding course for women in the UK – and aims to hire five course alumni into Zopa’s tech teams in 2022.
The peer-to-peer lending platform and digital bank will be offering funded course places and nanodegree scholarships for the rest of this year. It will also host an online event for career switchers and university graduates looking to upskill and enter the world of tech.
“Tech has a built-in case for diversity and inclusion in all its guises – different perspectives add genuine business value,” said Patricia Haynes, Zopa’s VP of engineering.
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“That’s why we’re determined to find and support the best female tech talent.
“The excellent courses that Code First Girls run provide opportunities to women who are passionate about a career in tech, whatever their background. And we can’t wait to meet the women who are choosing to take this route.”
Zopa will fund 70 places on a coding course for career switchers which will begin on 14 June 2021. The course will last for eight weeks and will teach students the fundamentals of programming through problem-solving in Python, and how this can be applied to things like apps.
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It is open to all women who are two or more years out of education, whatever their educational and professional background.
In July, applications will open for a 12-week nanodegree course. The platform will sponsor five women to undertake a Code First Girls nanodegree. Three of these women will be career switchers, and two will be graduates. They will receive mentoring from the Zopa tech team throughout, with the aim of hiring all five by January 2022.
Zopa will also fund 35 places on a university course, which will be announced later this year.
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