James M.
About me
| James M. | |
| Computer Science | |
| Software Engineering | |
| Undergraduate | |
| Vanbrugh | |
| 2011 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| Software Engineer | |
| BT | |
| United Kingdom | |
| 2011 | |
| £29500 |
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A day in the life of a Software Engineer in the United Kingdom
My career history
During 2008 (my final year of undergraduate study), I secured a position as a software developer with Wisebusiness, a York-based IT company providing bespoke software to businesses. I have always had a passion for computer programming (having started at 12), and working in industry made me realise how amazing it would be to pursue as a career. I worked for Wisebusiness for 2 years after graduating and then returned to the university in 2010 to start an MSc in software engineering, from which I am about to graduate. In April 2011, I secured a position with BT in their Group Engineering Services devision as a software engineer. I could not be happier!
Courses taken since graduation
MSc in Software Engineering
Where I hope to be in 5 years
There are many options available, from progressing through senior technical positions (my preference) or towards business leadership.
My advice to students considering work
Apply early (as early as possible - normally it works out as being first come first served) and make sure you apply for roles that you will actually enjoy!
What I do
My role involves designing, writing and testing software solutions for BT and its customers.
Skills I use and how I developed them
I had experience of software development both privately and with my employer.
Degree skills:
The MSc has been invaluable in formalising my technical skills as well as providing insight into softer skills, such as team management and requirements elicitation.
Extracurricular skills:
By far the most important have been my technical skills. Passion and hard work are also vital ingredients.
What I like most
By far the most important thing to me about my work is the technical challenge and responsibility. By the end of my first week I was working on a research project involving the development of highly concurrent software on completely new processor technology from a US startup in order to get real-time performance for very processor-intensive tasks, following on directly from the work I did for my Masters thesis. It's an area I'm very interested in and I enjoy the work a lot!
This enjoyment is framed in a really excellent work environment - at BT I'm surrounded by extremely intelligent people who are experts in their fields and who welcome new graduates with all the help and support that makes the process of starting a new job as smooth as possible.
What I like least
There's really nothing I can think of! I suppose there's a steep learning curve for new graduates, so doing things like setting up source control and test servers requires dependence on colleagues who know the systems and have done it before, but this would be the same anywhere and everyone is very keen to help and share their knowledge!
Next steps...
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