Wellington’s Summer of Tech is well and truly underway for 2010, with a stunning lineup of talent and technology on display at our Meet & Greet event last night. Thanks to everyone for making this a roaring success!
Check out @anistirk‘s great photo here!
For those who were unable to attend, sorry we couldn’t connect at the Meet & Greet, but it’s not too late to be part of Summer of Tech 2010!!
Companies of Wellington… it’s not too late to sign up!
Here’s a some company deadlines to think about:
- COMPANY REGISTRATIONS CLOSE – October-ish. That is not a fixed deadline, we need all the host companies we can get! However, if you want to maximise the benefits of the programme, and increase your chances of getting a top student interested in your role, we suggest you sign up before the end of August. This will give you time to take part in the Speed Interviews, and, if you’re super-onto-it, to apply for TechNZ funding (if you’re eligible & interested).
- SPEED INTERVIEWS – 7 & 8 September (before then, you’ll need to complete your company profile, set up a project (which is like a job description) and browse & shortlist candidates on our website)
- TechNZ APPLICATION – 10 September (if you’re interested in applying to TechNZ for funding to support your internship, you need to submit by 10 Sept. If you want Grow Wellington to help you with this process, you’ll need to let us know by 31 August)
Students seeking a technology career… it’s nearly too late to sign up!
Here’s a couple of student deadlines to think about:
- STUDENT REGISTRATIONS CLOSE – 31 August
- ONLINE PROFILE – asap like now is good what are you waiting for stop reading and finish it QUICK! Companies are browsing and shortlisting now. If your profile is incomplete, you are “invisible”. Enough said.
Here’s a quick re-cap on how the evening went:
To get things rolling, we turned the standard “recruitment process” on its head, requiring employers to “pitch” themselves to potential candidates. Presentations from 34 companies which showcased an astounding array of innovative projects and technologies. From exciting startup to high-growth creative to established corporate, there is no stopping Wellington business when it comes to developing cool tech!
Because candidates and employers can “browse” each other via the Summer of Tech website, we asked companies to focus on the “fluffy stuff” like workplace culture and business aspirations. And boy, they did 
Turns out that for many companies, having @EpicBeer as our Meet & Greet beverage sponsor was a fairly good cultural fit!
Summer of Tech aspires to play a useful role as a bridge between industry and the education sector, provide a platform for employers to streamline their graduate recruitment, and source & invest in local top talent. At the same time students are exposed to a range of opportunities they may never have known or thought of, right here on the doorstep! Judging by the volume levels during the “greeting” part of the evening, a lot of this is being achieved.
2010 is the first year we’ve gone beyond “Code” projects. The tech industry is becoming more competitive, more demanding and developing and releasing new products & services is harder than ever. Summer of Tech’s wider reach now caters to companies who want a broader skill-set, “Code” is still important, and the thriving Wellington Web industry was certainly on show during the company intro’s last night! Equal emphasis is now placed on the creative thinking and approaches of “Design”, the problem solving and innovation of “Engineering” and the thinking, processing, management and execution of “Business Analysis”.
Above all, employers are still hiring on ATTITUDE and APTITUDE. Technical skills are a given in this tight job market, you either got em already or you’ll learn em quick on the job. Communication skills, professionalism, team fit and the “fluffy” stuff are where candidates need to excell. If a paid summer internship is the result, perhaps those skills are not so “fluffy”, after all.
A huge thanks to all our helpers (especially Rebecca, KaiXin and Alastair, outstanding student-wranglers and SoC09 alumni… oh, and their employers Amberdms, Redvespa and CatalystIT who let us borrow them back for the evening!)
A huge thanks to all our sponsors and partners: Massey University Events Team for the venue, Grow Wellington for helping with company-wrangling, TechNZ for your upcoming investment in summer internships, and all the fantastic individuals and organisations without whom Summer of Tech would not be possible.
Roll on Summer of 2010!!