Diversity of Thought Programme – welcoming new partners

The programme aims to drive aspiration and help ‘levelling up.’ It directly addresses the key stages in the recruitment cycle where those from marginalised backgrounds are less likely to be represented. 

Part of the recruitment cycle for the programme takes the form of ‘Talent Hacks,’ where our students have the chance to work on some of the companies’ most significant challenges in a bespoke, live hackathon. Over the last few weeks, we’ve delivered four hackathons. 

London City Airport

With London City Airport recently joining the DoT programme, we hosted a hackathon with them on 15 November. We had more than 90 applications from students and after a successful hackathon, four will be chosen for the programme, which includes a 12-week internship with London City Airport.

Barclays

Our second new DoT partner hosted the inaugural hackathon on 22 November, with 25 students in attendance. They were split into six groups and given a variety of business challenges that looked at equal access banking, student bank accounts and fraud awareness. The successful hackathon took place at Barclays headquarters in Canary Wharf and the bank is in the process of selecting five to ten candidates to take part in the programme in the new year. Nazreen Visram, Head of Charities and the Public Sector Team at Barclays said,

It was a pleasure working with the University of East London on the Diversity of Thought Programme. The students embraced the challenges set and came up with some really innovative ideas. I was really impressed with their drive, passion and their desire to learn and prepare themselves for the world of work.

Siemens

We hosted our second Siemens hackathon on 23 November, with 13 students in attendance. The hackathon took place at our Docklands campus. It was a highly successful day, full of great networking, brainstorming and creativity. Siemens is in the process of selecting six or seven candidates to take part in the DoT programme. Those chosen will take part in a 12-week sustainability-focused internship, working with the company’s Smart Infrastructure Business Development team. Simon Burgess, Senior Solution Developer at Siemens said,

The students who attended the hackathon just blew me away. They demonstrated such highly developed leadership and teamwork skills, as well as clear logic and reasoning. Every single person who participated was more than good enough to join our intern programme, they made me feel proud to be associated with UEL.

ITV

We had the privilege of hosting one of our established DoT partners at our Docklands campus as they launched their second DOT programme. The day kicked off at our Career Zone office where second-year computer science students had the opportunity to network with representatives from ITV. They delved into industry insights, discussed career pathways, and gained valuable knowledge about industry engagement with ITV Group Technology. Continuing the day's momentum, an industry talk was delivered to all the students. The focus was on DoT applications as well as ITV graduate programmes and internship opportunities, allowing students to consider possible career paths they might not have considered before. Linda Young Project Management Office Analyst at ITV said the DoT Programme has,

 “always been brilliant, with some really inspiring students who really want to develop their careers. It's so humbling that everyone has been so engaged, bringing their hearts and sharing them with me and sharing what their aspirations are.”

We look forward to working with new and current partners to provide life-changing opportunities for students that will enhance their prospects and create pathways to aspirational careers. 

Find out more about studying business at UEL.