As an EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative Pledger, Generation is seizing the opportunity to engage in a broader European ecosystem, connecting with like-minded organizations to enhance their training programs and foster greater visibility within the tech industry. Generation is serving unemployed and under-employed people, especially those from vulnerable and disadvantaged communities, by offering free bootcamp training in tech, along with mentoring services, and they also help place learners in jobs with partner companies. In our interview with Minh-Huy Lai, who is Europe Chief Operating Officer at Generation, we asked first why Generation became Pledger.
Minh believes there are two key benefits for organisations joining the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative as a Pledger:
- Visibility: Every organisation wants to showcase and talk about the work they do, but they need an audience. He explained that belonging to the Initiative gives organisations that audience to share and learn, and increase their visibility on the European stage, not only within their home countries
“Even though we work in five countries, each of our operations are very national and local. So, this is the first opportunity where we can lift our head and see a more European perspective, so I find that valuable.”
- Community: The EIT Deep Tech Talent Pledger Community acts as a network, and Pledgers understand that if they are looking for partners in a specific country for a project, they can search the community to see if there is a suitable partner and reach out to them.
“The concept of a network and the ability to say we want to work on this, or knowing that someone is doing something that we have not done but we thought about is great. We can reach out and see how they’ve been doing it and be able to learn from them.”
Skill-based hiring: A Path to Empowering Non-Traditional Talent
In practice, Generation focuses on a skills-based hiring model that challenges conventional recruitment methods. According to Minh, companies often find it difficult to hire non-traditional talent—those with unconventional backgrounds or career gaps. To address this, Generation emphasizes that their graduates are job-ready and equipped with the technical and soft skills needed to succeed. The key to this approach lies in focusing on competencies, rather than academic qualifications or prior work experience. Minh explained: “We tell companies that what’s important is focusing on whether or not our graduates have the ability and competency to do the work they’re hired to do, rather than focusing on their background or prior education.”
Minh highlighted that when the key focus is on skills, competencies, and the ability for someone to perform a job, then hiring managers and companies become more open-minded to looking at non-traditional profiles.
What’s the biggest challenge for companies hiring a non-traditional profile?
Minh believes that it’s because they’re afraid of making a mistake, which is a human trait, and companies are naturally quite risk-averse and always set out to make the right choice.
Through the traditional hiring process, companies screen applications upon receiving resumes, generally using the standard filters of university, three or four-year tech diploma/degree, etc. He said: “In many ways, part of it is risk-aversion, and part of it, frankly… they’re a bit lazy! They don’t want to take risks because it involves more work for them to look at non-traditional profiles. (…) And this is where we need to work on the hiring managers, the HR recruitment teams, and talent acquisition teams, and slowly convince them to change their mindset.”
What challenges do non-traditional talent face?
Minh highlighted that for many of the people Generation train, there is an element of fear and questioning whether they will succeed or fit into the company, explaining that many of them are long-term unemployed, or have had small jobs, such as caring, or are mothers struggling to return to work following years out looking after their children.
He explained how Generation tackle these, very genuine, fears through mentorship.
“For each training cohort, Generation assigns an experienced mentor, and that mentor works to understand the constraints and fear of each of the learners and tries to address them.”
Minh went on to explain that the mentors work on the material things and, more importantly, psychological support and self-confidence, because many people who haven’t worked for a long time have an inner fear or lack of self-confidence. One final piece of the jigsaw that Generation put in place, to reassure both talent and hiring companies, is that the mentors follow their assigned alumni for up to six months after graduation.
What steps does Generation take to ensure skills-based hiring supports specific talent need?
Generation is focusing and designing training programmes based on jobs that are in high demand, but that companies struggle to hire for, because if companies are struggling to hire, they become more open-minded to looking at non-traditional profiles. All the programmes are job specific with all technical skills specific to be able to do that job, and soft skills are also customised. For example, in digital customer care, students are taught customer service, but also communication skills, empathy (in the context of someone who complains, how do you position yourself), and IT helpdesk technicians are trained to solve all manner of computer and connection problems.
Generation helps companies address any obstacles to non-traditional profiles by sharing with them the learner selection process, the tests students do, and the curriculum they learn. Generation also offers companies the opportunity to provide input to ensure the course curriculum and hard and soft skills taught are relevant for the job, and invite current employees to visit as a speaker, instructor, or as volunteers to help the learners with mock interviews, or their CV.
In terms of AI, he explained that Generation approach this in two ways:
- Generation has ‘AI Fundamentals’ as a module throughout all programmes regardless of sector, because AI disrupts all sectors, not just tech
- They don’t do generic AI! For each course, e.g., digital customer care, Generation ask employers what are the AI tools being used at work, curate, and introduce them in the programme. This means that when students graduated and started their new jobs, they would have already be aware of such AI tools.
Minh explained that using AI tool is not just about mechanically using the tool, it’s also about having critical thinking skills and life experiences to use the tool in the most efficient and ethical way which are hugely important.
Generation’s approach to non-traditional talent acquisition is not just about diversity and inclusion—it’s about solving real business problems. By focusing on skills, competencies, and the job-specific training that their graduates received, Generation helps companies fill roles with candidates who are ready to contribute from day one.
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