I'm a graduate at one of the most successful companies in the world ama

[TheUnderestimatedGrad]

I'm coming to the end of my grad program at a very successful company. Happy to dispel myths about working in technology, especially early career pathways.

Good to hear they are flexible. So many companies aren't but even those that are don't seem to encourage part time work and certainly don't advertise it. I need to work part time (variety of reasons) and if I left my current job I don't know I'd get part time to start with which would be a problem.

RiddleW their business model is fairly solid but I just don't want to work for a company that generates revenue in that way.

TimeWoundsAllHeals, tech is great for freelancing. You just have to charge your time at an appropriate rate to suit your skills. Loads of people start with their own project to showcase then take on customers. There's a shortage of affordable people for companies to outsource to which is why freelancers do so well as they undercut all the companies offering similar services to SME customers. I have a short attention span so I chose consultancy because my work changes ever 3-6 months as I move to new projects.

I really don't think anyone would want a loser like me doing anything challenging enough to be interesting no matter how low the price.

How difficult was it to get your grad job? How many applications did you make? Which uni did you go to and what course? Was it comp sci.

It seems a good salary.

AornisHades, just had a look at the careers website and some roles are advertised as part time. Although that is globally and at the moment none are open for the UK at this time.

Yohooo, Yes I did compsci at an RG uni. But I am the only one that did pure compsci in my role, the others are all stem degrees. Outside of my role 1/4 did stem, the rest did non-technical degrees and about half of those went to non-rg unis. No one is an Oxbridge graduate on the scheme at the moment. The company values employable skills over pure academics, but you do need a 2.1+.

The application process was submit cv, then complete questionnaire followed by a situational test to see if I fitted the culture, then a recorded video interview, then the assessment centre. It was a much more relaxed assessment centre than other I'd had. But that's because of the company's culture.

Also: before graduating I applied for 6 roles at various companies. Got offered the 4 that put me through to interview. The others I was rejected at situation level because I didn't fit culturally, and I'm glad they didn't waste my time or I theirs because I would have hated it. I then applied to my current company 3 months after graduating because I wasn't over the moon with my employer at the time. I only applied to 2 jobs at that time. One I again didn't get past culture fit tests and then the other is my current company.

TimeWoundsAllHeals - oh come on, a loser?! Surely not and have you met 90% of the tech cohorts - we're not exactly known for being the most stereotypically "cool kids". You be just got to take a risk. And if your DP can support you then what does it matter if things flop at first? The beauty of technology is the very minimal overheads for freelance work. All you've got to do is be confident when you're in front of your customers, be truthful when you don't know something but commit to finding out and getting back to them, continuously learn and develop yourself to keep on top of technologies and you will get good work. Most project I go on I learn the technology for the job. Once you have the basics like a good programming language, and understanding of a stack (Linux or Windows based) then you just pick up technologies as you go. If you pick up small bits of work now as a student you'll have a portfolio to do more once you graduate.

Yohooo, I should also add it's an out-of-london salary and for 37.5 hours a week.

Whats a culture for test?

Not really cut out for the whole "confident in front of customers" bit.

TBH I feel like by the time I have learned enough of anything to be in any way useful to anyone I will be far too old for anyone to want to bother with me. I have rudimentary knowledge of loads of things (C, python, java, assembler, git, linux, Mac, objective-C, functional vs OO, basic algorithms, small hyper focused areas of mathematics without a firm grounding in the basics (e.g. Bose Einstein Condensates, Lambda Calculus, Constructivism), Xcode, IntelliJ IDE, basic ML and data science algorithms, very basic rudimentary stuff about cybersecurity that I don't actually practice because I have nothing worth securing etc etc) but no in-depth knowledge of anything - I don't really know where I want to take any of it except that I want to learn things I don't already know and I don't want to spend my life bored and stitching libraries together because if I am going to do something boring I might as well stay home and sing wind the bobbin up for the 300 millionth time.

FormerlyFikadela01, a culture or situational test is an online scenario based multi choice or ranking test. You choose the response or rank them according to which one is closest to what you would do in the scenario. So it marks your personality/way of working against what the company wants in an employee. None of the answers are wrong so you could do the same test for all companies and give the exact same answers but some companies you will pass and some you will fail.

TimeWoundsAllHeals, I am a back of all trades master of none when it comes to technology. I am sporadic in my interests and could not be a product software developer. There are jobs for every one in tech and it's one of the few industries where it's completely acceptable to change role or company every couple of years. You just need to take a leap of faith. You will find something you enjoy.

Well you are doing really well :)

Our grads start on much lower, in London and work much longer hours than 37.5.

What is your MBA scheme - not come across that?

ChosenByYou, thank you - I am over the moon to be where I am. I work a 40 hour week normally but we are contracted for 37.5 and it just makes it really hard to hit the good bonus targets if you only do 37.5. And work life balance is so important to the company. It's the first place I've felt comfortable saying no to taking on too much work and being praised for it rather than looked down on!

The MBA scheme is for people who have 7+ years of work experience and are working towards their MBAs. The company runs the scheme so that you can access targeted train and resources to accelerate your career both towards gaining MBA but also within the company. A lot of snr leadership go through this both coming externally and also those internally that pursue MBA through the company.

What annual targets are you set? Assume it's utilisation of technical role.

Are you based in Reading?