Even though many of our graduates will have progressed in their careers since completing a case study, they are still of interest to students who wish to gain an understanding of the world of work.

Development of software for large industrial companies as well as support, maintenance and enhancement in the future.

A typical day varies, but may consist of multiple meetings with clients to discuss an ongoing project or to gather necessary information to bring a new software requirement into fruition.

I enjoy the range of activities and challenges presented. I'm continually learning new things and my PhD has enabled me to become very accustomed to this way of working. I also enjoy the client interaction and like minded attitude of my colleagues.

There are project deadlines that we must adhere to and present software to clients that we agreed to complete. This often means that prior to the deadline we have to work at a high level very quickly. These deadlines may be every week and mean that you have to very organised to ensure you complete work to a high standard within time limits.

I decided that I wanted to work in the IT industry because of the opportunities and challenges it provides. I’ve always enjoyed programming and in my spare time during my PhD developed apps for android and iOS. Additionally, with our ever growing reliance on technology and data management/analytics, it felt like a smart and stable career move.

The incredible boom in computing in the last twenty years is testament to this and it looks like it’s not going to slow down anytime soon!

Programming knowledge that I largely developed during my own time and used occasionally during my PhD. However much of the transferable skills I developed during my undergraduate and in particular PhD are immeasurably useful such as:

Analysis & Problem-Solving.
Interpersonal & Leadership Skills.
Project Management & Organization.
Research & Information Management.
Self-Management & Work Habits.
Written & Oral Communication.

Following completion of my PhD I improved my Python knowledge through personal projects (apps for iOs and Android) before joining Tessella.

Since joining Tessella my general programming practice has improved greatly and I am beginning to develop new skills such as data analytics and C#. I have also become accustomed with the skill set and requirements of software development holistically.

In the future I plan on gathering a core toolkit of software development skills including multiple languages and operating systems. On top of this I believe the analytics and "big data" sectors are going to continue to proliferate over the next 20 years thus I will be my developing data analytics abilities alongside a core toolkit.

Broaden your skill set as much as possible. Identify an area or career that you may be interested in following your studies and investigate potential avenues to get the skills that are required.

Universities have a plethora of resources available for students. For instance if you want to be a food chemist, investigate the material characterisation techniques that are listed on job specifications or may be useful, and attempt to gain some or all of those techniques.

The same applies for any field, your degree will get you through the door but you need to stick out as a useful candidate.

I really enjoyed my time at the University of Sheffield. I know it may be difficult to think ahead to after you finish your degree, but it will be very useful if you plan 1 or even 2 years before and look at what skills you might want to develop.