The Candidate joins Manchester Digital

One thing we at The Candidate have always been proud of is that we are part of the communities that we recruit into. This is why we are delighted to be joining the Manchester Digital community to learn and share knowledge. To coincide with this we recently chatted with with Kate Wilson, Partnership Manager at Manchester Digital about what they do and what we have to look forward to in the coming year.

What is your main job role and responsibility within the business?

My role is Partnership Manager so I spend my time ensuring our members are maximising their membership and engaging with our services. I really enjoy spending time with our members so I can understand their goals and challenges so we can support their campaigns with PR, networking and our Talent & Skills initiatives.  I also manage our busy schedule of events - so I’m always on the lookout for exciting speakers and topics which will generate lively discussions and valuable content to share across our tech community. It feels great to develop relationships with our members and to be part of a team that is passionate about addressing the inequality in the tech sector and is committed to the development of tech talent.

Who are Manchester Digital?

We are a not for profit tech trade association. We unite the tech ecosystem; celebrate successes, enable knowledge sharing and support the development and growth of the sector. Membership facilitates our talent and skills work - we run a software developer apprenticeship as well as experience days for schools, we recruit role models to support girls into tech careers via our Digital Her initiatives and we run an annual Talent Day that connects businesses with students, graduates and jobseekers from across the region.

Membership allows us to run salary surveys and a regional skills audit. We also have a schedule of events to support the digital and tech sector- from HR professionals sharing best practices to senior leaders discussions which can contribute to white papers and influence policy.

Who can benefit from membership? Any business within Greater Manchester and Cheshire which has a digital element to it can benefit from joining MD. Our services support the entire ecosystem of digital and tech - from freelancers and start-ups to large corporate businesses, with membership benefits tailored to the requirements of those different tiers. 

We offer members exposure to our large community of followers, encouraging them to share their news and thought leadership, whilst we also work in collaboration with our members to produce our own thought leadership content. Our members also have access to our jobs board so they can tap into a reliable source of tech talent. 

We also help businesses build their employer brand through involvement with initiatives such as Digital Her, featured content, networking and roundtable discussions. 

Our members often work collaboratively and our smaller members can benefit from legal templates, our free Cash Flow Forecast & Brexit Sales Report, as well as professional development for staff. In fact we have just launched a Digital Leadership programme for SMEs  - which is fully funded!

What are the up and coming plans?

We are really excited to launch our Manchester Digital Academy - we are expanding our current offering of a Software Developer Apprenticeship to more qualifications and professional development - which illustrates our commitment to developing the sector’s pipeline of talent. 

We have lots of events planned too - from our Fintech Forum later this month to our Chairs Reception (which will discuss how the cluster strategy will support the recovery of the sector) to our new Emerging Technology Forum in June.  We are planning our Peer to Peer network starting again in June - which is an amazing opportunity for Digital business owners to come together and discuss current problems and opportunities. We are a small and busy team  - but all of us share a passion to develop tech talent, drive innovation, share knowledge and help our members to thrive. 

Thank you Kate! For more info on memberships and events head over to Manchester digital here!