This question is one of the most important ones, therefore you can elaborate more here. Actually, it consists of 2 questions that you can easily answer all at once. You're good! You can do it!
Quantium is using data to empower induvial and businesses by providing valuable insights into their everyday data. Along with combining cross-functional teams together, I love how Quantum gives opportunities for employees to grow necessary skills.
I am part of Q.Refinery (falls under banking and wealth) where, as a graduate engineer I am working with my team to make components of a Big Data pipeline ready to be used as an API backend., Quantium is looking at providing service to Insurance companies by calculating things like a discount that a new customer should receive on an insurance quote, given their transaction history.
Usually, the Big Data pipeline takes hours, if not days, to finish running. However, with the API information is expected to be processed in real-time. This has been an awesome opportunity for the team to go back to the basics and re-factor and make an addition to the existing codebase to make it work faster.
I am constantly working on different problems, a day in my life looks constant. To kick off my workday, I like making a list of things I want to get done that day followed by getting some coding done, understanding the codebase, going to meetings (including getting help), having code reviews and peer programming sessions. Apart from this, Learning and Development is a massive part of my day and role. I will usually be working on skills I am focusing on improving during the sprint which usually is followed by a discussion with my manager.
I grew up in Kathmandu Nepal and moved here for university in 2017. Ironically, I do not like the cold.
Looking back, the most important time for me was the gap year I took between high school and university. I knew that I wanted to travel to different parts of Nepal and complete several internships before I chose a major. I ended up travelling for a few months that year followed by a series of internships and classes. First in the series was my media internship where I was a contributor to a weekly magazine. Followed by an internship at a Laboratory that made intraocular lenses for people with cataracts. Lastly, I did a summer course in java where we made little games. For me, the java class was what I enjoyed the most out of the internships and jobs I did that year.
Since the short programming course was so impactful, I had to see if computer science was the right path for me. I decided to give software engineering a go at university, and I now am a graduate Software Engineer.
In my penultimate year of university, I was actively applying for grad roles and Quantium stood out because of the diverse and structured program they offered. I had an amazing interview experience with Quantium which pushed me to take the offer. I was ecstatic when I received the offer; I got the structured and supportive graduate program I was looking for and could contribute to empowering people and society. I started my role in August 2021 and have been working for 6 months now.
Suppose someone wants to do the same job as you do, would that be also possible with a different background?
Yes of course they can! They would however need a basic knowledge of computer science is fundamental to the job and once you have that nailed everything can be learnt on the job.
It is a bit of a learning curve, being a software engineer means that you will be learning things throughout your career and will have to jump tech stacks often. If you’ve got the eagerness to learn and the curiosity to know how things work (or break), you have chosen the right career path.
Apart from being able to work on different problems every sprint, I love the social aspect of it. Every week we go into the office, I get a little bit better at Ping-Pong, shooting nerf guns and playing pool, it may be the Friday, afternoon drinks, effect. I have found the experience of being a part of a grad cohort to be rewarding. I get the chance to meet people who are working throughout the business, where some even become your closest friends!
The biggest limitation would be not being in the office too often. As you start off as an engineer you require a lot of peer programming and review sessions with your team and with working from home, it has been a bit challenging to do those remotely. Fortunately, with covid restrictions easing, we can all go back to meeting the team often and this limitation disappears.
One of the most important things I would want myself to keep in mind is to value understanding the fundamental concepts more than the grades you receive. This goes hand in hand with asking as many questions as you can. I think I have annoyed a lot of people with questions and still do but I get a good understanding of whatever I am working on/need to learn.
Secondly, I think it is important that you get hobbies or continue with the hobbies that you already have. Hobbies not only help you to know more people but also help you with getting that much-needed downtime from academics.
Lastly, I think it is important to remember that university is not meant to be easy and there will be times when things don’t work out. It is very important to remember that everyone goes through those moments, and I’d just say keep swimming and you will improve.