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Asked by east1bake on 31 May 2024.
Question: What inspired you to get into the industry and what advice do you have for upcoming Computer Scientists?
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Neil Barnby answered on 31 May 2024:
I was inspired by films, usually science fiction. I wanted an interesting career, but I will also say that the career I have now did not exist when I first looked at getting into Computer Science. I started with some programming and then went into repairing computers. I then went onto the internet and robotics, then teaching and eventually into Data Science.
I think it is always a case of what do you want to try next rather than look at a career for life. My advice is to find something that interests you, but importantly try to find out about as many different Computer Science jobs as you can. Your ideal job, the one which interests you the most, may be one you haven’t heard of yet. I had never heard of a Product Manager until 5 years ago, let alone a Data Science Product Manager. There really are far more career paths out there than you can imagine – seek them out.
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Tim Chapman answered on 3 Jun 2024:
I’ve always been interested in computers, my first one was a ZX Spectrum and then a Commodore 64, so creating games and programming was always there for me.
Advice is a simple one, never be afraid to take a jump into something unknown. The good thing about working in the IT sector, especially cyber where I am, is that there is rarely a dull day and so much changes so quickly. When I moved into cyber back in 2009 people wondered what I was doing and asked if I was sure about moving, now security is the most talked about thing in IT and those same people are asking me for roles in my team!
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Holly commented on :
I have always been interested in policing and wanted to join either the mounted or dog section but thought having a degree would be a good fall back so I initially studied criminology which, in summary, is looking at how societal factors contribute towards criminal activity. I then travelled for a couple of years and when I came back policing wasnt in a great shape and I wasnt keen to go on that journey so looked at alternative pathways and what career would provide me with satisfaction and longevity, but still in the policing/security/defence area. This led me to look at forensic sciences and cyber. I am terrible with blood so figured traditional forensics was out but I came across digital forensics which I thought sounded really interesting. I applied to the Cranfield MSc (with no prior computing knowledge or experience) and got accepted, completed my masters and have been working with law enforcement and the MOD for 5 years.
The advice I give to students and new starters in my team is to remain open minded and learn as much as a you can from your peers. This industry is enormous and you cannot be expected to know everything so being able to learn, understand and adapt is really important. Dont limit yourself to doing a computer science degree, or similar. There area number of other degrees, apprenticeships and pathways that you can apply this area of knowledge that could be far more interesting and rewarding than some others.