NonTechTech: What it is, why we’re doing it and how to get involved

We’re building NonTechTech (NTT) to make it easier for people — no matter their skill set — to get into tech, get ahead in tech, and get the advice and support they need. Get involved 😎

In May 2016 I quit my job in a tech startup in London with no next move planned. I reached a point in my career where I noticed lots of things I disliked about our amazing industry weren’t changing. One of them was the types of people in teams and in leadership. Tech seemed pretty homogenous and I increasingly felt like an outsider.

This puzzled me because I know so many talented, bright, interesting people who would be a great asset to any tech startup. And they are all a pretty diverse bunch, not homogenous at all. Lots of clever women, people of colour, college dropouts and self taught programmers who were working on incredible things but weren’t getting jobs in tech. It confused me.

I wanted to do something about it so I started writing a careers advice book to demystify the techniques for winning tech jobs. Then I started Hustle Crew, an inclusive community focused on supporting its members through mentorship, meetups and workshops. The response was incredible but I soon realised that I needed a more scalable way to give community members help.

Then a few months ago I met Aaron, a freelance journalist and programmer. On Twitter. This is tech after all. We chatted endlessly all about the tech industry — the reasons why we love it, the reasons why we sometimes hate it. I told him about my idea to spin out the mentorship element of Hustle Crew into something more accessible and scalable. He said he was looking for a new project to sink his teeth into and would love to help. Suddenly, NTT was born.

With NTT we want to break down barriers, challenge common misconceptions, and ensure every bright mind has the opportunity to build a rewarding career in tech. We do this by making it as easy as possible for people to get the advice they need. Starting with a mentor-matching tool it’s now simple for anyone who wants to get career advice to pick a relevant mentor from our community and reach out for support. It’s also simple for people who want to mentor to sign themselves up to our directory, making themselves available to be contacted by community members.

We also have a Slack channel with threads dedicated to all the things I’ve learned people struggle with most — knowing what jobs are right for them, finding jobs to apply for, tackling CVs and cover letters and preparing for interviews. We are currently in beta and excited to see how the community responds. We are ready to adapt according to their needs so we are always adding value.

If this sounds like something you’d like to be a part of, visit nontechtech.com and join our Slack channel now.