The first step towards your tech career

If you want to break into a career in tech, but aren’t sure what shape it might take, or where to start, this event is for you.

Perhaps you are already on the journey but would like to learn more about the options open (which are not all about being a developer!) and the steps to take.

Come and join us at ThoughtWorks London on Thursday, 11 April to hear some amazing stories from the people who are doing the job. You’ll be able to ask questions and get some advice on how to prepare for your first job in tech.

Read below to find out about our fantastic speakers:

Kat Hicks

From humanitarian mapping to software consulting

Kat is a software developer at ThoughtWorks, and she made the move into tech just under two years ago. She has a degree in geography and before learning to code, worked as a spatial data analyst in the humanitarian sector. She cares about using technology for good and diversity and inclusion - and is particularly interested in open data and data visualisation.

In her talk, she will be sharing her experiences of going from making maps to writing code and some of her reflections on what it is like starting out in the tech industry. She will cover a bit about her journey so far, her initial rationale for moving into tech, her experiences of learning to code and how she has found life as a software developer.

Monira Rhaimi && Oli Gibson

Journeys in product management

Monira is a Lead Product Manager at Thoughtworks, London.

She’s worked across multiple roles from software engineer to product manager, in different regions of the world. Having experienced many different environments, teams and cultures, she developed a passion for product management, lean and agile practices and culture change in organisations. She currently most enjoy deepening her craft around product strategy while helping teams start a change.

Oli is a Lead Product Manager at ThoughtWorks, London.

Over the years he’s worked with companies, across all sectors, helping them build better products using lean and agile methods. After running several startups, he now focuses on helping companies develop their business strategy, take an experimental approach to product development and manage cultural transformation.

Have you ever been curious about what product management is and what product managers do? In this talk, we'll share our journeys to become Product Managers and some of the common paths into our industry. We'll share what

we do every day, a few stories from our experience as well as some tips we collected along our way.

Mario Giampietri

Being a software developer: what is that about?

Mario is a software developer at ThoughtWorks, he is currently intrigued by the intersection of tech and people problems that are part of his job. Outside of work he loves music, reading, arts in general and spending time with the loved ones. Both inside and outside of work he enjoys being in a culturally stimulating environment, London and ThoughtWorks seem to be a good match for him.

If you start a profession as a career changer (as Mario did with tech!) you may assume you'll be disadvantaged. That may be true but only in part and not as you would expect initially. You may find out you already developed core skills that weren't part of any "traditional formative path". You could also have incorrect assumptions and expectations about the job itself based mostly on what is a stereotype. Mario wishes to share with you his reflections on what is part of the job of a software developer, that is much more about people interactions and dynamics than you may expect.

Natasha Desai

The "U" in UX - and how everybody wins when users are happy

Natasha is a Design Consultant at ThoughtWorks with experience in design, branding and multimedia content. She brings her clients’ projects to life with her passion for human-centric design, and her prowess in prototype development and visualisation of data.

In this talk you will learn about what it takes to have the mindset of a user experience designer, and what it means when we say 'start human, stay human'.

Food and drinks will be provided!