Super Techies - levelling the playing field

Choosing a career is hard. Deciding which company to work for can be challenging. There are so many websites, pamphlets, videos, bullet points, talks and workshops. Which one is really right for me?

15 January 2015

Choosing a career is hard. Deciding which company to work for can be challenging. There are so many websites, pamphlets, videos, bullet points, talks and workshops. Which one is really right for me? How do I know that I’ve made the correct choice? These were the sorts of questions that led Capgemini to launch the Super Techies UK competition this year.

In the beginning...

The Capgemini Super Techies Show was launched in India in 2012 – a TV show broadcast across the country and on YouTube. Participants are invited onto the show in pairs to solve real business problems through the use of technology. Household names such as Mercedes, Vodafone and Unilever have all posed problems to the challengers and taken away workable solutions. Early in 2014, The Capgemini Super Techies Show was opened up to students across the world. Capgemini UK hosted a national final which was won by an all female team called “Pop n’ Go”.

The Challenge

After the success of including students in the Global Super Techies competition, we decided to create a spin-off – a Super Techies UK Campus Competition. This would provide future Capgemini candidates with a better view of who we are and what we do. They would have the opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge to a real life business scenario gaining valuable experience, receiving meaningful feedback and meeting seasoned professionals from the technology consulting industry.

Teams of two are asked to respond to a technology and business-focused case study by presenting three slides on strategy and technology that provide an innovative solution to the problem posed. Each team completes an online submission. These are sifted, judged and verified by an expert team of judges with the best 12 entries being invited to a heat. Each team that made it this far were invited to make a ten minute presentation to some industry experts and answer questions about their solution.

Success

10 weeks, 15 Universities, 116 submissions and 7 heats later and we have our 16 teams who have made it through to the Super Techies UK final to be held in the early months of 2015.

Given all the concerns about the lack of women in technology, we’ve been really encouraged to see so many talented women participating in our UK campus competition. They have thrived in a near true-to-life corporate environment and have taken advantage of this try-before-you-buy technology consulting opportunity.

We wish all of the finalists the very best for the final and hope that Super Techies UK helps to spread the word about the amazing opportunities of a career in IT for other women in the marketplace.