Year 2 is done and dusted and it’s been a great year for Women Rock! I am so proud of what it has become and hugely excited for the plans we have for Women Rock in 2020!

I am very proud of my fab ambassadors Char, Steph, Darcie, Rach, Sam, Caitlin and Sophie who have been at the forefront of Women Rock in 2019. The blog is packed with stories from inspiring folk in technology where every story and experience are different. You girls are the best advocates of the brand and you always have Diversity and Inclusion at the front of your minds as does everyone in our business. It’s amazing to see everyone living and breathing it daily.

So what has happened in 2019 and with 5 years left to achieve our mission, what is next?!

We have improved our diversity placements in 2019 at SR2, and we are super proud that 39% of our placements have been of under represented folk, ok it isn’t 50% but we’re getting there and we have hired some unbelievable talent within software development. – where the real shortage is!

I still hear everyday that there aren’t enough females in Senior positions. We are pretty proud of some of our female placements being CTO’s, Engineering Managers, Lead Developers, Head of Agile. We have also placed multiple testers and engineers, both on a perm and contract basis. We’ve also been really active in the Part Time market, supporting working mums especially and had a load of success from our ever growing networks.

This is all great but as I have said before the idea has never been to hire women just because they’re women. We find people that are amazing at their jobs. We have been committed and responsible of actually getting the word out to the widest pool of candidates possible which has in short led to our success in this area and and we bloody love it!

It’s not all sunshine and roses however and with all the great, comes the shit! I would love to write a book on how companies window dress the subject of ‘diversity’. I’ve had calls, emails and constant messages about how can we hire females. I’ve had requests for all female shortlists and ‘I only want to hire a female developer’ – You genuinely hear all sorts but I am pleased to say overall the picture definitely feels like its improving which is what it’s all about.

Biggest Tip. Listen to your recruitment partner – if they’re crap and not providing a diverse shortlist then go and get a new one who is truly committed to D&I. To change takes some work. It takes time. It takes trust. But it is totally worth it.

We posted 29 different interviews to the blog in 2019 and had folk who are new to the industry, returning and have been in technical roles for years. Also founders and senior managers both male and female have took part sharing their successes, challenges and some struggles throughout their careers and sharing their thoughts on all things D&I

What’s next:

We are committed to gender diversity more than ever, our first placement of 2020 was a female JavaScript Developer kicking off the year perfectly! ???? We are attending several events to keep up to date and share our insights and experience into hiring diverse talent into the industry. We are looking forward to attending the TTC annual breakfast soon on how we can actually make a real difference and drive greater inclusion and diversity in tech?

Overall in 2020 you will see more of the same with a couple of changes. We are planning a couple of diversity events, planning a international womens day event, partnering with Runway East and maybe even a podcast if we can squeeze it in. We have also partnered with Tiff Dawson and working on how we can provide coaching for women in their STEM careers. We hope you will still follow and join us in celebrating gender diversity in the world’s fastest growing industry. If we can help in anyway, if it’s hiring, advice or some support you know where we are.

Please remember your voice and all we ask is to use your influence because whether you believe it or not (and you should) you can promote positive experiences for the minorities in tech!

Look out for our first interview of 2020 next week.

Thanks for supporting.

Loads of Love – Women Rock x

A voice for diversity in tech <3

I: @womenrockbristol

T: @womenrockbrstl