VIRTUS Data Centres and HireHigher inspire sixth formers to join the data centre industry

Adelle Desouza, Founder, HireHigher comments, “The industry needs an injection of the best talent and my aim is to work with data centre specialists like VIRTUS to bring the industry to life and share the huge opportunities that exist within it for young people. We hosted 60 sixth form students at our event and it was exciting to see so many asking questions and talking to the Rising Stars about their routes into the industry.”

Anna Marriott, SVP of People & Organisation, VIRTUS, says, “We are excited to partner with HireHigher to explain the critical importance of the digital infrastructure industry, the diverse range of roles we have to offer and how young people can embark on an exciting and successful career path within it. Our aim was to create a memorable experience for these students, helping them to understand how the apps on their phones - their social media, computer games, online school and college work and almost everything connected in their lives - wouldn’t exist without data centres. We wanted to showcase how we work 24/7 to make sure the digital world stays up and running without a hitch.”

“It is testament to our passion, commitment and support for this initiative that experienced staff from VIRTUS joined the students to share their own education and career stories to encourage and nurture early talent development in our industry. We want to inspire the student visitors to explore our fast-growing industry as a place where they would feel happy and excited to work and know that they’re contributing to keeping the world up and running – all day, every day,” comments Anna.

Laura Joyce, Assistant Headteacher, St Marks Catholic School said, “The Rising Stars in Schools event was a fantastic experience for our Year 12 students. The morning session was really powerful in helping our students to begin to identify and articulate their natural motivations and preferences in a working environment. The emphasis on each student's unique value and the positive messaging of how they can add value as individuals no doubt left a lasting impression. It was lovely to hear our students speak about careers they have never even considered.”