Why is diversity so important in the tech community?
Working in the UK after Uni I spent 9 years working in Bristol & Edinburgh which was a fantastic experience and real eye opener with so many different cultures and backgrounds than little old New Zealand had 20 years ago. There were so many different restaurants, art, shows & gigs to go to.
I worked in a very meritocratic industry in IT recruitment consulting with many of my colleagues and managers being female and alongside a variety of different backgrounds.
NZ has come a long way in our awareness of diversity in those 20 years, and IT is at the forefront of employment on merit. If you can do the job, you should get the job.
But why is diversity important?
We love diversity and always have, as it brings more ideas and different ways of thinking to solve problems. It better represents society and thus your software or hardware users can benefit as we design systems that better fit the people using those systems or software.
One of the perks of being a tech recruiter in New Zealand is interviewing people overseas and finding out about their interesting backgrounds & being proud to bring different people to our fine shores.
The technology industry in NZ still needs a more diverse spread of women, Maori, Pasifika, LGBTQ2+ and more awareness of our neurodiverse community - this can only help with promoting, understanding and getting lots of different people on board working together.
One thing we’ve done at Sunstone to help bring more diversity to our job applications is adding the option of a video cover letter to make it easier for neurodiverse people to apply. You might have spotted this at the bottom of job adverts: ‘Please Click Apply now sending your CV & Cover Letter (Happy to receive short video 60-90 secs max / MP4 with 1gb or less) or direct to paul@sunstonetalent.com’
Or like the Ministry of Awesome organising the recent Electrify Aotearoa gathering of Women tech start-up founders in Christchurch which is inspiring.
I challenge you to check your own bias and always be open to new things, different people & ways of doing things.
I was humbled to receive some lovely testimonials from some of our latest placements…
‘Sunstone Talent helped me get my first job out of university and turned a daunting situation into an exciting one. Paul has excellent communication and people skills, is highly reliable, and wants to see you succeed. I would 100% recommend Sunstone Talent if you're looking for any position in IT.’ Te Atawhai - Graduate Software Engineer, Christchurch NZ
‘Paul takes the time to listen to what I'm looking for in my next role with regards to technologies, team culture, and work-life balance. He has placed me twice on long terms contracts over the past four years and each time the role has been a great fit. His friendly style of communication and honesty make him a pleasure to work with!’ Natalie - Contract Senior Software Engineer, Christchurch NZ
‘I would highly recommend Sunstone Talent to anyone seeking their next IT role in New Zealand. Paul took the time to understand my situation and provided me with a great opportunity to further my career. His caring approach, wealth of experience and enthusiasm to help has left a strong positive mark on me. Thank you for making the whole journey so seamless.’ Aakash - Contract Senior Full Stack Developer, WFH NZ
I’d love to hear your thoughts on diversity and any ideas on how we can improve and get better at this as we can all do a little better if we focus more on this.
I’d like to finish with one of my favourite Maori sayings….
'He aha te mea nui o te ao? Māku e kī atu, he tangata, he tangata, he tangata'
What is the most important thing in this world? It is people, it is people, it is people.
I'm Paul, I’m a Dad who loves coffee, dogs, biking, surfing & skiing. Founder & Principal Consultant of Sunstone, an IT Recruitment & HR company specialising in recruiting IT roles within software, web, mobile, blockchain, big data, cloud infrastructure, security & networks in Christchurch & South Island of New Zealand.