Adrian F.
About me
| Adrian F. | |
| Physics | |
| Theoretical Physics | |
| Undergraduate | |
| Goodricke | |
| 1999 |
My employment
| Solutions Architect | |
| O2 | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Digital and IT services | |
| Large business (250+ employees) | |
| 1998 |
Like this profile?
Add this profile to your favourites so you can return to it later from your account.
A day in the life of a Solutions Architect in the United Kingdom
Technology consultant and architect for a mobile telecommunications firm
My career goals when I graduated
I wanted to do high-tech R&D and perhaps move into academia in later years.
My career history
Check out my LinkedIn profile.
What has helped my career to progress
Working hard and developing subject matter expertise. People networks tend to open up when you can offer something of substance.
Courses taken since graduation
Check out my LinkedIn profile.
How my studies have helped my career
There's a certain cachet associated with a degree in physics, so that was a good starting point for me. Understanding the technology in fundamental terms is also very valuable. However, formal post-grad or professional qualifications are probably more useful in terms of career progression.
What surprised me about my career so far
I pretty much always expected to end up in academia, so finding myself in industry with access to leading experts was a radical notion at the time. Having veered from a very hands-on approach to technology into an entirely abstract view of the world, I eventually found a happy medium as an engineer.
Where I hope to be in 5 years
This has always struck me as an odd question. Let's see what happens - once my children are a bit older I hope to undertake a doctorate.
My advice to international students looking for work in the UK
Broadening one's experience is always beneficial and international travel/working is a valuable activity.
Think carefully, because leaving the EU would take decades for successive governments to untangle and that's a lot of uncertainty. My own view is that this will be an outright catastrophe and an undercurrent of xenophobia has been revealed that many of us thought had disappeared, though 'your mileage may vary'.
My partner and I are considering moving to another part of the world.
My advice to students considering work
Experience of 'having a job' is what you should try to gain. So long as you're treated with respect and paid fairly, don't get too picky about your first few. You never know in advance what stories you might have to tell in future, or how the experiences will come to benefit you in later life. Don't fall for the charlatans who say it's simply about arming yourself with a social media presence, business cards and a bit of small talk - you won't last.
My advice about working in my industry
Get in touch if this is of interest.
Other advice
Get in touch if this is of interest.
Contacting me
Happy to offer hints, tips or mentoring.
What I do
I do a lot of design work on technology solutions, a lot of technical investigations and fault-finding and get involved in strategic discussions about telecommunications, particularly relating to the 'Internet of Things'.
Skills I use and how I developed them
A lot of hands-on experience in different parts of the business, 'soft' and 'hard' skills developed over time, plus a lot of learning from professional courses and formal post-grad studies.
What I like most
First, the variety. I might be talking about radio propagation over large bodies of water in the morning, working with other engineers trying to fault-find some obscure security problem in the afternoon, then meeting a customer the next day to talk about the type of challenges they'll see connecting vehicles to the Internet and best ways to achieve what they want.
Second, the flexibility. I work from home, which means I get to walk my children to school on a morning, do most of my meetings via conference/video call, relax at sensible hours and sometimes study in the evening. I still need to travel but I can usually plan it in advance. There's occasional international travel too (not as exciting as it sounds).
What I like least
I'm not a fan of admin and meetings held for the sake of holding a meeting, but everyone has to do this sort of thing at some point. Besides, opportunities reside where you see them.
What surprised me most
Even now, the scale and reach of big organizations for me is quite breathtaking.
Next steps...
If you like the look of Adrian’s profile, the next steps are down to you! You can send Adrian a message to find out more about their career journey. If you feel you would benefit from more in-depth conversations, ask Adrian to be your mentor.