There's nothing more important than inspiring a new generation to be interested in tech. It's the only way the industry will continue to thrive.

A career in tech has so much to offer the first generation to truly grow up digitally connected. It's creative. It's thrilling. It's absorbing.

But of course - we know that. We want to make sure they do!

Today, Amul and Ruth from Northcoders visited St. Matthews RC High in Moston - just a few minutes from Northcoders HQ - as guests to Career Connect's STEM employer event to inspire their pupils to consider learning to code.

"Do you all have a mobile phone?"

"Yes!" they'd answer.

"What's your favourite app?"

"Snapchat." "Instagram." "Facebook."

"Did you know that Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook are all built with code?"

The pupils were full of curiosity. We had some wonderful questions. What would happen if bad people hacked our code? Is code like Enigma from WWII? Do girls get treated differently to boys in our industry?

And we thought - if they can ask great questions like this, now, at the age of 11, 12, 13 - they"ll be asking incredible questions by the time they leave school. And that"s the kind of people the workforce needs.

It was great to feel their tangible interest in what we do. We are hopeful and optimistic of seeing some of them choose to pursue a career in software development when they leave school.

Want to know more about what we do? Find out more about Northcoders here