Meet the
Professionals
School of Computer Science
Thursday 21 April 2016
In partnership with The University of Manchester
Alumni Association and Careers Service
Welcome
Welcome to our Meet the Professionals event. It gives you the
opportunity to talk to former students who studied similar subjects
to you, and have gone on to be successful in their careers.
You will meet alumni at different stages of
their career who are able to offer advice and
guidance and you will have the opportunity
to ask them about their individual career
paths. In groups of five or six, you will have
10 minutes with an alumnus before moving
onto the next alumni and repeating the
process. After everyone has met, we will
break and you will have the opportunity to
talk informally with our alumni. Here you
can ask follow up questions, seek additional
advice and exchange contact information.
Timetable
17:00-17:15
Registration 17:15-17:35Welcome talk
17:35-18:35 Speed networking 18:35-19:00 Informal networking 19:00 Close
Making the most of the event
Before the event
•
Research the alumni - In this guide you will
find information about the alumni attending
the event including their career timeline.
•
What do you want to know? - Think about
what you want to get out of the event, who
you’re particularly interested in meeting and
what you need to ask about their individual
career path.
During the event
•
Practise networking - Use the time at
the end of the event to network and ask
questions that you perhaps didn’t have
chance to ask earlier
.
•
Exchange contact details - Don’t be afraid
to ask for contact details, if there’s someone
you’d like to stay in contact with, ask them
for an email address or phone number.
After the event
•
Get LinkedIn - Now that you’ve met
some people working in the sector you’re
interested in, connect with them on LinkedIn
and discover more about them and their
employers.
Conversation starters
Worried about networking?
Networking is a great way to gain
personal insights and start deciding on a career path. You will hear
others’ experiences and make contact with people in the area you’re
interested in. Try to talk to as many people as possible from a variety
of roles and consider talking to people from a different background
to you to broaden your options.
Prompts and possible questions to ask
•
What is a typical day like in your role?
•
How did you get started in this role?
•
What kind of work experience would be
helpful?
•
What is the selection process like?
•
What are the key skills needed for this
role?
•
What is the working environment like?
•
What do you enjoy most about this role?
•
What is the most challenging part of your
role?
•
Where did you look for work?
•
Is there any other advice you could give
someone interested in this career path?
Degree:
PhD Computer Science 2015
Job:
Research Manager
Organisation:
Oracle Labs
‘A portfolio of projects can prove that
you are able to use technology and
that you can deliver a useful project.
This is much easier in computer science
than many other fields and even
small projects that show interest and
understanding make a big difference to
how I see candidates.’
Chris Seaton
Find me on
Questions and notes:
MEng University of Bristol 2007 British Army Officer 2007-11
Research Manager Oracle Labs 2015
Degree:
BSc(Hons) Computer Science 2012
Job:
Software Engineer
Organisation:
Envoy
‘Don’t be afraid to reach out directly
to employees of companies you’re
interested in. Having a personal
touch helps you through the interview
process and you might even get jobs/
internships that are not advertised.’
Mihai Anca
Find me on
Questions and notes:
2010
Software Engineer, FreeAgent in Edinburgh 2012 Graduated BSc(Hons) Computer Science PhD University of Manchester 2015 Growth and Mobile Engineer, Twitter 2015 Working remotely for Envoy
Internship with Oracle Labs 2013
Degree:
BSc(Hons) Computer Science 2013
Job:
Senior Engineer
Organisation:
ARM Ltd
‘Don’t just focus on technical skills:
you need to be able to communicate
and work with others to be successful.’
James Couperthwaite
Find me on
Questions and notes:
2012 Summer Internship with ARM 2016 Promoted to Senior Engineer 2015 Completed ARM graduate programme 2013
Graduated with BSc(Hons) Computer Science
2013 Graduate Engineer,
ARM
Degree:
BSc(Hons) Computer Science 2008
Job:
Software Developer
Organisation:
Marshall Wace
‘Focus all your energies on what you
love and don’t worry about financial
rewards in the early stages. The first
step is understanding what you are
passionate about, which is not as
easy as you might first think.’
Sufian Al-Qasem
Questions and notes:
2004-2008
Read Software Engineering with Industrial Experience
Present C++
Programmer, Marshall Wace
2006 - 2007 Placement year at IBM,
Warwick
Various roles at Nokia and Markit (financial data) 2010 Graduate Recruitment Programme, Marshall Wace (asset management)
Degree:
BSc(Hons) Computer Science 2013
Job:
Software Engineer
Organisation:
BBC
‘Make sure you make use of all the
opportunities around you. Manchester
(University and in general) has a huge
selection of tech meetups, tech events
and careers events which could lead
you to your first position or give you a
new interest.’
Stephanie Cook
Find me on
Questions and notes:
Software Engineer, Magma Digital
Degree:
BSc(Hons) Computer Science 2013
Job:
Software Test Engineer
Organisation:
AppSense
‘Make the most of the opportunities
provided by the university (like this
one!) to network and speak to people
in industry and if possible and perhaps
most importantly, try and get out into
the industry via placements (doesn’t
have to be a full year, even a few months
over summer can be really helpful). You
get to try out the type of work you think
you might want to do and find out if it’s
right for you and it helps your career
prospects after finishing your degree.’
Qasim Ashraf
Find me on
Questions and notes:
Placement year, Morgan
Stanley in Canary Wharf Placement at AppSense in Warrington
Software Tester, AppSense Worked my placement year with a small
Manchester firm building websites and small applications
Internship, Magma Digital (Digital Agency) during final year
Graduated with a BSc(Hons) Computer Science Software Engineer, The BBC Graduated with BSc(Hons) Computer Science
Degree:
BSc(Hons) Computer Science 2013
Job:
Virtual Security Systems Engineer
Organisation:
Cisco Systems
‘With each facet of life, whether career,
educational or personal; comes with
its own high and low points, don’t
be fazed by these, just learn from
both experiences. Disrupt yourself
from time to time by moving into
more challenging roles, that way the
excitement of developing will always be
there.’
Faruk Roshid
Find me on
Questions and notes:
2012
Completed full year Internship - Data Analyst, Techdata
July 2015 Joined the Global Virtual Engineering organisation within Cisco as a Security Specialist 2013
Started my own small computer business and managed a stocks portfolio
Degree:
BSc(Hons) Computer Science 2013
Job:
Web & IT Developer
Organisation:
Co-operatives UK
‘Go out and get experience, or more
importantly practice. Even if that means
personal projects, or volunteering
locally before you are qualified/ready to
start work. Show, don’t tell - and don’t
wait forever until you feel ready!’
Michael Pearce
Summer job as Project Administrator at RB - referred by jiujitsu training
partner met at Manchester
Practiced web developement in spare time during studies
Lots of Web Development - php, APEX, Linux, SOQL Lots of IT Development - Infrastructure, networking, telecoms, maintenance, procedures etc.
Find me on
Questions and notes:
2013Graduated with a BSc(Hons) with Industrial Experience
July 2014 Joined Cisco on their CSAP Graduate program
After graduation got job as Training Co-ordinator for SAP & IS via
Started as Web & IT Developer, Co-operatives UK
Degree:
BSc(Hons) Computing Science 2007
Job:
Technical Product Manager
Organisation:
BBC
‘Never be afraid to ask questions. It
doesn’t make you sound stupid to not
know something, it makes you sound
smart enough to understand what you
don’t know. None of us know everything
and it can sometimes take a lot of guts
to say ‘I don’t know’ rather than trying
to make up an answer, but people will
respect your honesty and listen more
when you do have something to say.’
David Glover
Find me on
Questions and notes:
Started as a junior developer at a small bespoke development company
Over time started to do less programming and more ‘speaking to the clients’, which turned into
being their Product Manager
Last year moved to the BBC to be their Product Manager for Content Syndication Helped that company grow to become the largest provider of online payment services to the media industry in the UK and abroad
Degree:
BSc Computer Science and
Mathematics 2015
Job:
Graduate Software Developer
Organisation:
IBM
‘There is no substitute for passion.
If an employer knows you are
passionate, they know that you will
give 100%. The real challenge is
showing them that you are.’
Zac Hamid
2011 Volunteered as an assistant in my school’s IT department 2012 Employed as a HORNet Representative at the Universityof Manchester 2015 Graduate Software Developer, IBM 2014 PASS Leader and Student Ambassador at the School of Computer Science
Find me on
Questions and notes:
2013 Started Year Long Placement at IBM 2015 Graduated with BSc(Hons) Computer Science and Mathematics
Notes
Degree:
Computer Science
Job:
Software Engineer
Organisation:
IBM
‘Get as much relevant experience as
you can, whether it’s volunteering, an
internship or even your own personal
project. Having as many talking points
on your CV as possible is crucial.’
Martyn Jacques
Started studying Computer Science
at The University of Manchester Volunteered as Computer Science student representative
Software Engineer placement, IBM IT intern, Nanoco Technologies
Find me on
Further Advice
Whatever stage you are at in your career planning, hopefully this event will have inspired you
to take the next steps with confidence.
There is a huge network of support for you at The University of Manchester so take
advantage of it while you are here. You can benefit from a wide range of services such as:
•
Help finding internships/work experience
•
CV/covering letter writing guides and workshops
•
Company profiles and testimonials
•
Guidance services
•
Appointments with careers consultants
•
Mentoring schemes
•
Practice interviews/practice psychometric tests
•
Paid work vacancies
The University of Manchester
Alumni Association
Careers Service:
www.careers.manchester.ac.uk
Open Times:
Monday—Friday
9am—5pm
General enquiries:
+44 (0)161 275 2828
Student and graduate
information and guidance
enquiries:
+44(0)161 275 2829
The Atrium,
1st floor University Place,
Oxford Road,
Manchester
M13 9PL
Feedback Questionnaire
Thank you for taking the time to fill out this short questionnaire. Your comments will help us to improve our events to meet your needs more closely and we may use them anonymously to promote future events.
Student no.
I am in: Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 PG Recent
graduate
2. Please rate how strongly you agree with the following statements:
ii) I feel motivated to take action regarding my career (Seek careers advice, update CV, source internship etc.)
iii) A good range of careers were represented
v) Talking to alumni was beneficial
iv) I learnt about careers that I didn’t know were an option for me
vii) I would recommend this event to others
Strongly
Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree
4. What was the best thing about the event?
5. What was the most useful piece of advice or information you received today?
6. What will you do now as a result of attending this event? Please tick all that apply
Check for part time vacancies or internships Find a mentor
Update / Write my CV Book an appointment with a careers consultant Research into specific career Create a portfolio/document experience examples Book a practice interview Create/Update LinkedIn profile
8. Any additional comments: (please use overleaf if required) 7. Was there anything you didn’t like, or felt could be improved
i) My confidence has increased in networking with professionals