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In my first year I worked in IT for a windows and doors manufacturing company, and now I’m a software engineer in the civil service.
Choosing an apprenticeship route into computing
I’ve stuck with computing all the way through school, from early IT lessons right through to computer science, and I’ve always enjoyed figuring out how things work and building things. My first taste of programming was with Scratch in secondary school, where you could drag and drop blocks to make games, and I got completely hooked on the idea that I could create something from nothing. That interest naturally developed into studying computer science and exploring engineering-type subjects, so computing at degree level felt like the right next step.
USW stood out because of Network75, which lets you study and work in industry at the same time. I didn’t want to graduate and then face an 18-month job hunt with no experience, especially in such a competitive field, so having paid, relevant work alongside my degree was a huge advantage. In my first year I worked in IT for a windows and doors manufacturing company, looking after a large in-house ordering system and its database, and now I’m a software engineer in the civil service working on internal tools, including exploring how AI can help other engineers work more effectively.
Explore Network75 opportunitiesBalancing legacy tech, new tools and career progression
On campus, the facilities have given me a solid grounding in both hardware and software. In first year we used Raspberry Pis and Linux to get closer to how computers work under the hood, and they’ve allowed us to work with useful technologies like databases and older enterprise systems. Some of the modules I’ve enjoyed most have focused on web mapping and geography-based computing, building websites with maps and overlaying data like pollution, which opened up an area of computing I’d never have considered otherwise. Working with older, more “legacy” technologies on the course has actually helped me understand the foundations behind the newer tools I use in my job.
I’m now in my fourth year, and in the short term I’m aiming for promotion with my current employer and potentially a master’s, ideally supported by my organisation, once my degree is finished. The biggest skills I’ve taken from USW are resilience and an appreciation for the fundamentals you gain by working with established technologies that are still everywhere in industry. For anyone considering computing, and especially Network75, my advice is that if you’re serious about having a job at the end of your degree, this route is worth choosing because the work experience you gain alongside those fundamentals is simply too valuable to miss.
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