Excited to find this platform and apologies for bit of basic & technical questions, but hoping to get some clarity before kick starting the application process:
Definition of "product-led digital tech companies: are experience in hardware companies such as Apple/Huawei/Samsung acknowledged? - I’m presuming yes as they “provide a proprietary digital technica hardware as their primary revenue source”, but want to make sure
Promise vs. Talent: If an applicant has 5+years of working experience overall, but started in other industries before therefore has <5 years in the tech field, is it best to apply through the Promise Route?
Supporting evidence: what’s the exact difference (e.g. in format, structure) b/w Letter of Recommendation (as must-have evidence) and letter of reference (as optional evidence)?
Supporting evidence: if an applicant’s contribution/impact is already mentioned in LoR, can it directly serve as relevant evidence? - asking as I’ve seen many posts in the forum separating out LoR and supporting evidence
Supporting evidence: any advice on how to support OCs, if the applicant’s specialty involved lots of confidentiality and it’s difficult to find public evidence?
Thank you very much for anyone who can help advise!
I think it depends on your role and the sub-division / function you are in. For example, if you are in Apple company and working in the e-commerce / app / other innovation teams which is more digital than hardware manufacturings, I think it is fine. More importantly, you need to demonstrate how you and your work are related to digital technology.
The definition is stated in the Tech Nation guideline Single definition of “Digital technology sector” and “product-led”: The “digital technology sector” or “product-led digital technology companies” are defined as businesses that provide a proprietary digital technical service/product/platform/hardware as their primary revenue source. The creation of software, processing/storage of data, or the creation/application of technical computing hardware is often a central aspect of their business model.
The promise route should be the case for you. But please also make sure that the previous companies were not in the digital tech sectors as well.
There is no difference in the template or the structure. I suggest to use the exact same guideline shown in TechNation, because you may feel that you may want to switch primary LOR to/from evidence(s) at some point, just in case.
No. You need to provide evidence to support and strengthen it.
The Tech Nation guideline says Note that the use of letters of reference alone to show how you meet any of the criteria is not sufficient, additional evidence should be provided.
Good question. Many people asked, but it really depends on how much you can access the data. Some people ask their direct reports if they understand. Some people just screenshots from what they have in their email or company’s instant messaging app. I suggest not including any sensitive data of any customers.
However the Tech Nation also mention in the guideline that Application data received by Tech Nation will remain strictly private and confidential, and is stored and processed on Tech Nation’s secure application system. Data will only be accessible to the Home Office, Tech Nation and the independent assessment panel. In accordance with Home Office instructions, Tech Nation will store your data for up to 6 years, after which it will be permanently deleted. You should only share data if you have permission to do so, Tech Nation cannot advise regarding NDA’s or whether you should share any particular data.