Hockerill Computer Science Alumni

What did you like most about studying Computer Science?

The people that study computer science with you are going to be some of the most awesome people you meet, I'm still really good friends with many of my fellow CS classmates (I actually help out with my friend Wilhelm's startup on the side!) and these people likely start or be part of really cool companies & will likely be ahead of the curve of any new technological developments before they get mainstream. That, and it's also such a fun subject with some epic staff!

What did you go on to study or do after leaving Hockerill?

BSc Management at the University of Nottingham

What attracted you into a Computer Science profession?

It's industry agnostic i.e medtech, fintech, edutech etc. The pay and benefits significantly surpass many other comparable industries. Even if you don't go on to be an engineer, you can be a product manager or something else (I don't actually do engineering on my day-to-day at Google!), but by having that fundamental layer of knowledge is such an advantage.

What helped you getting to where you are now?

At school: - Young Enterprise - Society at school where we got to start our own actual company and learned the foundations of business by actually doing it: first proper taste of selling a product. - Interact - Non-profit society at school that helped contribute towards charities within the local community: helped me with public speaking skills During University: - Built various sites for fun but also to try new stuff and build new skills. - Did 3x internships with Dixons Carphone (now known as Currys), in advertising, social media and rewards: knowing how to build the tech is one thing, marketing your work is another - Got involved in something called Enactus and worked on their tech: awesome thing to get involved with at Uni - Was President of the Entrepreneurs Society: tech and entrepreneurship go hand in hand - Started and ran a non-profit for 2.5 years: good to help the community too - Setup various side projects: best opportunity to learn new stuff and earn ££ too After: - Worked in a Blockchain accelerator

What advice would you give to students interested in Computer Science?

It's such an amazing subject to study even if you're not sure exactly what you want to go on and do next! It gives you a foundational knowledge of technology and how different systems, software and tools work together to make the things we use every single day. It's very highly in demand (plus it pays extremely well too!) and the technology industry plus it's impact on the world is in no sign of slowing down (e.g Web3, Blockchain, Metaverse, AI, Robotics). By having a solid level of CS knowledge gives us such an advantage in many other careers too or even if you fancy starting your own company, you'd have the ability to build it! Apprenticeships, Internships are some of the best ways of getting experience, but I've seen people get jobs through Twitter by just showing different projects/ websites they've been building on the side. Showing your work and publicly documenting what you do on the internet is some of the best advice I've been given.