Women at Capgemini make a difference in their careers. This includes helping young people from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve career success through Capgemini's Digital Academy. This is just one example, alongside sustained investment in junior talent and a commitment to providing degree apprenticeships as an alternative to a full-time university degree which were recognised at the HR Excellence Awards when Capgemini won an award for Best Youth Employment Strategy.

The Digital Academy initiative, led in partnership with Code Your Future, aims to support those from disadvantaged backgrounds, including refugees, to help develop digital skills and provide support to fast-track their career in tech. The Code Your Future partnership is part of Capgemini’s global commitment to Digital Inclusion, that has seen the opening of seven academies to date, with more planned.

Capgemini mentors support students' career journeys 

With a team of 57 Capgemini volunteers acting as mentors and trainers, Capgemini's Digital Academy supports students from disadvantaged and refugee communities in learning JavaScript programming.  70 per cent of course participants are expected to find employment within six months of completing the course, with ten of those intended for placement directly with Capgemini in the UK on permanent contracts.

The Code Your Future students are supported by carefully selected Capgemini mentors (both business and technical) who are helping them navigate their learning journeys.

One mentor is Sanyia Saidova, an Enterprise Architect for Capgemini's Cloud Infrastructure Services. She explains why she got involved in Capgemini's Digital Academy and what her experience has been like to date.

Sanyia Saidova is an Enterprise Architect and Capgemini mentor

"I signed up as a mentor because I support Capgemini’s ambition to make sure the advances in technology are inclusive. I was once one of those people who could have benefited from a programme like this, but I have been lucky and have found other opportunities to bring me to where I am today," says Sanyia.

"I wanted to participate in this course to gain a better understanding of the digital divide and learn what I can do to reduce it. I also want to make programmes like this more widespread. I know that businesses, communities and individuals can all benefit from this reduction, especially as society moves closer to automation. Finding opportunities where one can learn and put their learning to practice is key to reducing this divide."

"CYF offers plenty of opportunity for technical and non-technical volunteers to learn and develop themselves. My Sunday sessions have enabled me to become much more than a technical mentor. I have become technical assistant, a soft skills mentor, and I’ve even led a class," she explains.

"I am also developing and improving my skills – both as a presenter, and teacher. One of the most insightful parts of the programme is the psychometric test with its 41-page report of your strengths and weaknesses. After that, you’re paired with a mentee who’s on the opposite end of the psychometric spectrum so that it becomes a journey for both of you. As well as supporting my mentee in helping her find work and reach her goals, I’m learning a lot about how I can improve myself based on how well she handles things I couldn’t dream of yet!"

"The team work and community at CYF are amazing. It’s best seen when the students bring out lunch. CYF has worked to solve the lunch problem by nominating teams to cook for the week. It’s excellent, because you get to try different cuisines from some of the students’ home countries. After lunch, the team who did the cooking that week get a round of applause and everybody helps clean up. This is the teamwork, that is the foundation for the course. There was no hesitance from anyone to help out," she adds.

"My short-term goal is to help my mentee achieve her goals in the next six months. My long-term goal is to find out what more can be done to adopt a model like CYF’s so that businesses and individuals benefit from reducing the digital divide."

Join women like Sanyia making a difference in their careers at Capgemini

To find out how to launch your own career journey with progressive employer Capgemini, take a look at the opportunities available.

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