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A road less travelled
How an English grad ended up in tech
I was asked to write a little careers piece recently and it got me thinking. Careers rarely work out as planned, do they? I’ve ended up doing a job I didn’t know existed when I was at school. Here’s how I got there.
How was your University time?
Amazing! I always wanted to go to university. It gave me the opportunity to move away from where I grew up and meet new people. I loved reading and writing so I chose to study English at Nottingham University. I enjoyed student life; the freedom and the friendships. It was like taking a practice run at adulthood.
Having said that, I found the academic world tedious. Diversity was lacking in the books we had to read and in the lecturers themselves. I didn’t feel inspired by the teaching and I didn’t get a lot of feedback or encouragement. I was ready to leave after 3 years and start working.
What path did your career take?
I found a job in market research and discovered I was very interested in understanding people’s behaviour. I worked in research agencies for a few years. I learned a lot of skills like how to analyse data, respect confidentiality, ask the right questions and give presentations. However the companies I worked for were very hierarchical environments and I knew I…
