Hired Partner, CodeYourFuture: Developer Training for Refugees

CodeYourFuture (CYF) is a UK based non-profit organisation that trains socially excluded people as Web Developers and helps them find work in the tech industry. We spoke with Alec McCrindle, Design & Digital Director for CodeYourFuture.

Tell us a bit about CYF and how your organization came to exist.

The idea behind CodeYourFuture started brewing during the summer of 2016. Our Founder, Germán Bencci was working in the tech industry and wanted to find a way to positively impact people’s lives through technology. 

Germán reached out to Gijs Cortens, the founder of HackYourFuture (HYF) and Gijs became a guide through the early stages of the process of setting up CodeYourFuture.

The first London class started that year, followed by Scotland and Manchester in 2017. Since then, we’ve run classes in Medellin and Cape Town. Our goal is to create a grassroots movement that anyone around the world can replicate in their city. We believe everyone should have the opportunity to live a thriving life. Since CYF started, 70% of eligible CYF graduates have gone on to find work in the tech sector or into full-time study. 

Tell us more about your organization’s partnership with Hired. 

We’ve been working with Hired for a number of years. Prior to the pandemic, Hired would invite our graduates to spend a day in the London office as an opportunity to get assistance with their Hired profiles, learn more about  the typical interview processes of companies on Hired, and really just see what a day at a tech company looks like. 

Additionally, Hired has set up a path to assist our graduates in getting contacted and placed through the platform. Employers on Hired can actually search for our grads by putting “CodeYourFuture” in the search which is great for jobseeker visibility. 

What are some initiatives that CYF is currently working on?

The most exciting new development is our leadership program. We want to offer people who have a little more time and benefit from the experience as a leader within the CodeYourFuture program. Coders and non-coders are welcome. You can read more about the leadership program and apply here. 

We’ve been busy with our classes too. We were able to move online quickly as COVID first spread. Delivering a purely online class presented new challenges. We had to provide additional financial, emotional or other support to many of our students, many of whom had additional struggles due to the pandemic.

Exciting times are ahead for CYF, as we work with the community to figure out the best way to deliver our program when face-to-face classes can resume.   

Anything our community should be on the lookout for? Upcoming events?

We’re always keen to welcome new volunteers to CodeYourFuture. The roles are flexible, and like with our leadership program, there are roles for coders and non-coders alike. 

May 19th is our next volunteer welcome event. If you’re interested in the volunteering opportunities with CYF, sign up here! (other dates available too).

Hired is the largest AI-driven marketplace matching ambitious tech and sales talent with the world’s most innovative companies. Backed by global HR leader, The Adecco Group, Hired combines intelligent job matching with unbiased career counseling to help people find a job they love and reach their full potential.

By providing accurate, real-time information, access to equal opportunity, efficiency, and transparency, the Hired platform serves as the backbone for hiring managers, recruiters, and C-level executives to surface the best talent and build amazing, diverse teams around the world.

Hired is committed to building equity in the hiring process through a more representative talent pool, using bias reduction features, customized assessments, and salary bias alerts to help remove unconscious bias when hiring. 

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