Effective CVs

Even if you’re not actively seeking a new job, it’s a good idea to keep your CV up-to-date, accurate and in good shape! You never know when it might be useful (internal promotions, volunteer or charity opportunities) and it’s handy to keep it updated as you go.

Our events are relaxed, fun and friendly. Whether you are already working in a tech role, or just thinking about it, you’ll find wonderful people to support, inspire and advise you.

We’re delighted to have a range of fantastic speakers comnig along to our next event to share their top tips with you on how to create a really effective CV, thinking about whether…

  • your CV is working as hard for you as it could
  • you’re getting the interviews you think you should, or is there a risk the ‘recruitment robots’ could be blocking you
  • it really represents you, or could it apply to anyone
  • it’s full of buzzwords!
  • people are getting what you want them to get from it
  • if you’re changing sector or role, you can best highlight the skills you’re bringing with you

Our panel ranges from Tech Recruiters to Technical Managers, and they’ll share their wisdom how to make your CV as strong as possible, making you stand out from the crowd and more likely to get the roles you want.

And as always, we’ll have small breakout groups where you really get a chance to meet other attendees and share and listen to your own challenegs and ideas.

Thanks to the generosity of our hosts and amazing business hosts and our volunteers, the event is free to attend, but with limited spaces. Please make sure you can attend if you sign up for a ticket to make sure we make the most of these sessions.

Drum roll…….we’re back!

waving hello

It’s been a challenging couple of years for so many people, and in so many different ways.

The tech world has been in a lucky position in some ways – more familiar with remote working tools, already using shared information repositories and general ability to be able to setup office in a different place quickly and relatively easily.

But it’s brought many challenges too – sectors massively impacted by changes in demand have faced redundancies, children at home has created care and teaching requirements and simply not being able to meet with the people that inspire and focus your mind.

As a volunteer group we made a decision to put events on hold – as volunteers, we all have work and family challenges on top of this, and just focussing on them was a full time role.

Behind the scenes, things have continued: relationships with organisations developed, conversations to help and advise business on how to become more inclusive, and volunteers chatting (and walking in some cases!) to keep in touch.

We are however delighted to announce that we are back with an exciting new programme of events!

Focussing on growing your career, the series is aimed at anyone interested in building their career in tech. With our first session, we’ll focus on the opportunity to pivot from one career into another. With three amazing speakers who have done just that, we’ll learn about their different approaches and how that’s worked out for them. We’re sure they will share hints and tips and some lessons learned.

With time to network and chat to others, come along and say hi, we cannot wait to see you again!

Click to book your free ticket!

 

 

We’re going on the road!!

We are super excited to say that in a couple of weeks time we are taking Girl Geek Scotland on the road! As part of The DataLab’s DataFest Fringe – a two week long, Scotland wide, festival of data – we are bringing our workshops to Inverness!

With the help of Skills Development Scotland, who are going to host us in their fantastic Digital Lab in Inverness, we hope we’ll be able to share a taster of what we’ve been working on over the last year in Edinburgh.

The event is open to those working or studying on tech, or want to work or study in the tech sector, or who simply have an interest in what we’re up to!

It’s going to be a relaxed and informal event, come for as little or as long as you can, and bring a friend, the more the merrier!

For full details and to reserve your free ticket, take a look at our Eventbrite page.

It’s all change at Girl Geek Scotland!

Though we’ve spoken to a lot with our community over the last few months and shared information about our plans, we’re delighted, and sad, to be at a pivotal point in the future of Girl Geek Scotland: having been honoured to have been nominated for the award of Diversity Champion at last weeks Scottish Tech Startup awards, we‘re now formally announcing that Morna Simpson is standing down from her position leading Girl Geek Scotland, and a new Leadership team comprising of Anne-Marie Scott, Gail Logan and Sam Rhynas has been formed.

Morna has been the driving force of Girl Geek Scotland over the last ten years, and the new leadership team are excited to take it forward. Compared to what was there ten years ago, there is a very different environment in the tech community, but still many challenges remain and some new ones have emerged. We know Girl Geek Scotland has a key place there to continue to support our network & community of those working and studying in the technical and related sectors in Scotland.

We have been delighted by the enthusiasm we’ve had from business and individuals alike over the past few months as we have looked to stengthen our ties with our community, and look forward to speaking to more of you as we kick off our program of events early next year. Our volunteers are a fantastic team, and working with them and our partners, we aim to continue to empower and enable women to have amazing careers in the tech sector.

Please follow us here to keep up to date with what’s happening, and to get to know our new leadership team, and our other volunteers, a little better. We wish Morna much success with future ventures, and leave you with her own words…

“This November marks the 10 year anniversary of founding the Girl
Geek Scotland community.

The first official Girl Geek Scotland meeting happened in November 2008 – and we had our first public event in early 2009. It had, of course, taken a good 6 months of work building networks and relationships – work that started in June that year.

It has always been a work of passion – not a business – but the result
of a lot of effort from volunteers, partners and friends working after
hours while managing day jobs to pay the rent.

When I started I thought of it as a 40th Birthday present to myself.
It was an opportunity to contribute to the future of women in
technology. We have had a lot of highs – amazing guests and
unbelievable support from the community.

Now as I am coming to my 50th Birthday I have a different gift to
myself. That is handing Girl Geek Scotland over to a new fantastic
leadership team who I trust completely to take Girl Geek Scotland
to the next level: Anne-Marie Scott, Gail Logan and Samantha
Rhynas.

They are three amazing women with the skills, knowledge and
network to make great things happen… and I know they will give
the right amount of support and freedom to volunteers as well as
the friends in business who have supported us over the years.

I will be stepping down with immediate effect to make sure that I
don’t get in their way!”

 

 

Our next event explores How To Grow Your Digital Business For Investment

Would you like to know how to engage with your very first customers, build an early adopter market and take your market to the mainstream?

 

  • Thursday 15 February 2018 at 6:30pm – 9:30pm
  • Panel of 5 inspiring entrepreneurs
  • Marketing and engagement skills for business development
  • At FreeAgent, One Edinburgh Quay, Edinburgh, EH3 9QG
  • Find out more and register on Eventbrite

 

Panel Guests

Chair: Vicky Brock – Entrepreneur
Mark Logan – Transformational C-level internet economy executive (former COO, Skyscanner)
Rachel Lane – Digital Strategist & Service Designer
Leah Lockhart – Digital Engagement, The Democratic Society
Angela Prentner Smith – Managing Director, This is Milk

 

Panel discussions are based on the following texts:

 

  1. Ask: The Counterintuitive Online Formula to Discover Exactly What Your Customers Want to Buy
    …Create a Mass of Raving Fans…and Take Any Business to the Next Level, Ryan Levesque
  2. The Lean Startup
    How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses, Eric Reis
  3. Crossing the Chasm, (3rd Edition)
    Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers, Geoffrey A Moore

 

Refreshments of wine/soft drinks and nibbles are provided. Entry is by Eventbrite registration only. Find our more about the event and panel at our Eventbrite.

News from Investing Women: Book now for Ambition & Growth Conference 2018

News from our friends at Investing Women:

Book now! Investing Women Ambition & Growth Conference 2018

Ambition & Growth 2018 will inspire, motivate and inform. As a growth aspirational entrepreneur, business angel or a professional in a leadership role; you will hear inspirational speakers, participate in useful master classes and experience the ‘buzz’ of the live AccelerateHER pitch final.

Taking place on International Women’s Day, Thursday 8 March 2018, at the marvellous setting of the Sheraton Grand Hotel, Edinburgh, this annual event is not to be missed. The conference will be followed by the Ambition & Growth Awards Dinner, featuring a very special guest ‘Dragon’.

Book before Friday 19 January to receive our special ‘Early Bird’ rate on day delegate rates, and join us in the evening for the glittering AccelerateHER Ambition & Growth dinner.

 

Visit Eventbrite here to find out more and book.

View their original mailer here

News from AccelerateHER: 5 Reason You Should Apply for AccelerateHER – closes 1st December

News from our friends at AccelerateHER:

5 Reason You Should Apply for AccelerateHER

Competition Closes December 1st

#Reason No. 1 – Prizes

 

The prize list is impressive and includes but is not limited to…

 

✔️ A combination of cash and in-kind support for each category winner

 

✔️ Major profile for your company: winners will be presented by a celebrity and sponsors

at the high profile AccelerateHER Awards Dinner 8 March 2018

 

✔️ As a winner you will have free access to the 2018 Ambition & Growth Conference

& AccelerateHER Awards Dinner:

 

✔️ 121 Clinic with specialists & professionals on key business topics

 

✔️ 121s with business angels

 

✔️ Mix with a vibrant community of investors and other founders

 

✔️ Access potential mentors and funding organisations

 

✔️ Significantly raise your business profile

#Reason No. 2 – More Chance of Winning

 

This year we have split the competition into categories instead of everyone competing for one title there are now 6 categories and there will be at least 6 winners.

  • Women in STEM
  • Young Entrepreneur of the Year
  • Social Innovator
  • Education and Training
  • Student Award
  • Ambition Award

You can enter two categories per idea or business and full terms and information can be found here

#Reason No. 3 – Free Events

 

All entrants to the competition will be given FREE access to a range of events across Scotland such as:

 

✔️ Day with the Angels – Where you will be given guidance and feedback on your pitch/idea from our angels face to face)

 

✔️ Making it Concrete – Where you will work on your business proposition and outline to help provide a clear direction for where to go next.

 

✔️ Pitch Practice – Where you will practice your pitch and get valuable feedback from our angels.

#Reason No. 4 – AccelerateHER Bootcamp

 

All entrants will be invited to our exclusive 2 day AccelerateHER bootcamp held in the new year, this is still being developed and more details will follow shortly. This event is exclusively for AccelerateHER entrants.

#Reason No. 5 – It’s Easy To Apply

Applying couldn’t be simpler, all you need to do is submit a 1-2 min video outlining your idea. This doesn’t have to be edited professionally and can be done on your phone!

You can apply and upload your video here

If you have any questions just email sam@invetingwomen.co.uk or reply to this email.

Good luck!

News from ZoneFox: How to avoid ‘Amateur Hour’ in the wake of the Uber breach

News from our friends at ZoneFox:

Threat Mitigation: How to avoid ‘Amateur Hour’ in the wake of the Uber breach

The monumental fallout now underway from the Uber data breach in 2016 (!) has organisations as far as the eye can see frantically reassessing their security posture and ensuring that the risk to their own business-critical data is minimized.

The good news – that’s what a ZoneFox Risk Assessment will do for you. During a quick 2-week timeframe, you’ll get detailed, actionable insights into the effectiveness (or otherwise) of your security posture, and complete visibility of potentially anomalous behaviour around your data – so you can take the smart decisions around what needs to happen next:

 

  • Delivers 360º visibility into risk-exposed sensitive information
  • Tells you who’s doing what – where, when and how – with your data
  • Shows you where sensitive information is headed – on OR off your network
  • Identifies where you’re falling short of – and meeting – regulatory compliance.

The long and short of it? When you’re summoned to demonstrate what steps your team is taking to prevent becoming the next Uber, you look like the smart one.

Find out how secure you really are!

P.S. There’s some really great content on the ZoneFox website that can tell you lots about how to protect sensitive information against the insider threat, ransomware, malware – and much more. Dive in!

Firstport Announce Winners of their Social Innovation Competition

News from our chums at Firstport:

The Social Innovation Competition delivered by social enterprise agency Firstport, celebrates individuals and start up companies in Scotland using their creativity and imagination to solve pressing social issues, focusing in 2017 on the themes of culture, heritage and tourism.

The winning projects include: a project to restore an iconic community building, a business boosting ethical tourism in Scotland and an organic food producer. These are just some of the projects who have scooped awards in this national competition for their innovative ideas.

The winners were presented with their awards by Angela Constance MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities, at a reception held by Social Enterprise Scotland in the Scottish Parliament last night (Tuesday 7 November). They receive £5000 each and tailored business support from Firstport.

The awards were presented as part of the 2017 Social Enterprise Awards Scotland.

Full details of all the awards at www.socialenterpriseawards.scot. More information on the Social Innovation Competition at www.firstport.org.uk/socialinnovation

GGS Founder named as one of 2017’s Faces of a Vibrant Economy

Girl Geek Scotland Founder Morna Simpson has been named in this year’s list of Faces of a Vibrant Economy.

Morna Simpson wants to redress the gender imbalance in STEM. Her organisation, Girl Geek Scotland, supports women in digital tech throughout their careers with a focus on creativity, computing and enterprise. Girl Geek runs world-class educational events, including panel events, short-courses and hack-a-thons. It also runs a series of mentoring events to support career development, consisting of best practice case studies and hands-on workshops.

Scotland’s economy is desperately in need of more people who can work in the digital tech industry,” Morna states. “This means that we need to encourage women into what has become a very male dominated industry. I help people by providing them with the information they need to create a better life for themselves.

Visit the Grant Thornton UK LLP website here to read the full story.

Press coverage:

SBNN.co.uk: Four Scottish business leaders named as ‘Faces of a Vibrant Economy’ https://sbnn.co.uk/2017/11/08/four-scottish-business-leaders-named-faces-vibrant-economy/

insider.co.uk: Four inspiring Scottish business leaders named in Grant Thornton ‘Faces of a Vibrant Economy’ list http://www.insider.co.uk/news/faces-vibrant-economy-grant-thornton-11482945

scottishfinancialnews.com: Four Scottish business leaders named in Grant Thornton’s ‘Faces of a Vibrant Economy’ http://www.scottishfinancialnews.com/15089/four-scottish-business-leaders-named-in-grant-thorntons-faces-of-a-vibrant-economy/

 

 

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