Event Round-Up: Future Careers in Emerging Tech

techUK's Future Careers in Emerging Tech event ran two panels, and the split between them is itself informative: one on what emerging tech roles actually look like day to day, and one specifically on how to break into them, treated as genuinely separate problems rather than one talk covering both badly.

The first panel, chaired by techUK's Ella Shuter, brought together Catherine Ramsdale (SVP Technology, Pragmatic Semiconductor), Freddie Horth (a former apprentice, now an Associate Application Owner at Digital Catapult), Dan Patten (Government Affairs & Policy Lead, Scale AI) and Charlie Markham (Technical Specialist, Emerging Tech & Research, at the Financial Conduct Authority). Between them they cover R&D, policy, regulation, product management and delivery, a useful reminder that "emerging tech" jobs aren't all lab coats and code; the FCA needs technical specialists just as much as a semiconductor start-up does. The panel's most repeated point was that communication is a core technical skill, not a soft add-on, and that people from non-technical backgrounds (politics, English, psychology were all named) have moved successfully into these roles via transferable skills rather than a retrained STEM degree. Entry routes discussed included technician roles, degree apprenticeships from Level 3 through Level 7, and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, alongside the more familiar graduate scheme and summer placement routes.

The second panel, on breaking in, named specific high-growth areas worth targeting: semiconductors and chip design, photonics and optoelectronics, cybersecurity, cloud and DevOps, and software engineering. Speakers included Ian Bolton (Academic Director, TechSkills), Stewart Edmondson (CEO, UK Electronics Skills Foundation), Dr Yuliana Topazly MBE (University of East London), Joshua Carney (The Sutton Trust) and Hussein Ali (HP). Their practical advice for applicants was specific rather than generic: AI-driven recruitment filters now screen out generic applications early, so a tailored application beats a template one; a portfolio with real, even flawed, projects demonstrates more than a polished CV line; and evidence of resilience and adaptability can come from part-time work, caring responsibilities or running a society, not just a placement.

The throughline across both panels is that soft skills aren't a consolation prize for people who didn't do a STEM degree, they're treated by every speaker as equally decisive as technical ability once you're actually in the room being assessed.