Good practice Imported

Women ReBOOT

Ireland · Dublin · National · See the Ireland profile

Women ReBOOT is an award-winning national tech sector initiative for experienced and qualified ICT women who have taken a career break and now want to reignite their Tech career. They support women seeking to return to the tech sector to develop the skills, competence and confide

100+ women

Women who rejoined the tech sector (2017-2026)

40+ companies

Partner companies (2017-2026)

Details

Maturity: Established
Promoter: Software Skillnet — website
Type: Service
Status: Ongoing
Target groups: Unemployed and those facing social problems
Period: 2017-01-01
Keywords: women, employability, digital skills, tech, careers

Context

Women ReBOOT is a national Irish tech-sector initiative, run by Software Skillnet since 2017, for experienced ICT women who have taken a career break and want to return to the tech sector.

Objectives

To help women returners develop the skills, competence and confidence to re-engage with technology businesses, and to connect them with partner tech employers offering open roles.

Activities

The programme provides technical refresher training (cloud, database, computer/data science, DevOps, machine learning, blockchain, project methodologies), plus work placements, psychometric testing, CV and interview preparation, mentoring, seminars and eLearning. Women ReBOOT LIVE, launched to enable participation from across Ireland, offers 10 days of virtual training followed by a 12-week paid work placement (participants receive a diploma after 20 hours/5-10 sessions of study).

Results

Women ReBOOT has enabled more than 100 women to rejoin the tech sector, stepping into high-skilled roles at over 40 partner companies, including Datalex, Accenture, Microsoft, SAP, Mastercard and Dell.

Conclusions

No substantive evaluation of Women ReBOOT exists beyond participant testimonials; reported outcomes rely on self-reported placement counts rather than an independent assessment.

Implementation

Indicative cost: Low (< €50k) — No cost or budget figures published in cited sources.
Time to results: Medium (1–3 years) — Running since 2017; standard cohort structure is 10 days virtual training followed by a 12-week paid work placement (20 hours/5-10 sessions minimum for a diploma).
Staffing & skills: Software Skillnet (national ICT skills network) delivering the programme with over 40 partner technology companies (e.g. Datalex, Analog Devices, Accenture, Microsoft, SAP, Mastercard, Dell) providing placements and mentoring

Conditions for success

Structured technical refresher curriculum (cloud, database, DevOps, machine learning, blockchain) combined with soft-skills support (CV/interview prep, mentoring, psychometric testing)
Paid work placement (12 weeks) directly with partner employers after training
Employer partnerships across 40+ tech companies to absorb returners into open roles
Virtual delivery format (Women ReBOOT LIVE) extending national reach beyond Dublin