Added: Over a year ago by Wiley Edge
Bournemouth is a major hub for our clients and we have roles available in the region year-round. It has lots of opportunities for graduates, especially if you want to work for an investment bank.
We spoke to George who joined our Alumni Program last year and relocated to Bournemouth to work on-site for one of our clients. He tells you what it’s like being a Software Engineer at an investment bank, his experience as a Wiley Edge Alumni and why he recommends graduates move to Bournemouth.
My favourite part was the week we did on investment banking and FIX Protocol. Because of this training, I was more prepared on my first day as it exposed me to the terminology and gave me a base level to build up my knowledge of my role and how it affects customers. My trainer was fantastic, she made it really fun, interesting and engaging.
Because of lockdown, my software development training was delayed so they offered for me to join the production support classes while I waited. I found that training useful as it covered areas like Linux and servers which was really interesting.
As a Software Engineer graduate, the software development training was a good refresher as I hadn’t done much coding since I graduated a year ago.
I did half of a general IT degree with the Open University but after one software module, I knew that was the area I wanted to focus on so I switched to a software engineering degree at Kingston University and was much happier as I really enjoyed coding.
What I like about coding is that the challenges have clear cut resolutions; so when you have a problem there’s always a way to solve it. Finding the solutions to challenges drives me forward and makes me want to tackle each task head-on.
I have a stand up in the morning where the team get together and talk about problems that we faced the day before, anything that we're stuck on and what we're working on that day. Then I'll just jump into my work which involves analysing requirements, fixing code and writing new code. I also work on web applications built with Spring Boot and Angular.
I would say go for it. Wiley Edge is a really nice company, everyone's really friendly and I was well looked after when I was on the programme. Throughout the whole process, from before I got placed through to when I was offered a permanent position with my company, Wiley Edge has always been professional and friendly.
The biggest benefit was I sent in one application form for the Alumni Program which then opened me up to multiple opportunities and job roles with different companies. Rather than applying for all these companies individually, I had a foot in the door that streamlined the whole process and exposed to me lots of companies at once.
Definitely the access to the beach - the beach is awesome! We also got to experience the Bournemouth Air Festival which was cool as it’s the UK’s largest air show.
As it’s a university town there are loads of young people around and it’s a lively place, with tons of restaurants, bars and clubs.
Bournemouth is also great for people who like the outdoors. We've got lots of water sports and there's plenty of countryside to explore outdoors, it's a beautiful county. We've also got the New Forest in Hampshire next door and the Jurassic Coast isn't too long of a drive, it's pretty awesome.
