Before Digital Futures, I found it nearly impossible to land an interview, let alone pass one. This was very demotivating as the months flew by after graduating with a Computer Science degree from Swansea University.
After graduation, I had always assumed that my career would seamlessly fall into place, but I couldn’t have been more mistaken. I’d wanted to pursue a career in tech after completing my A-Levels and leaned more specifically towards software engineering during my final year of university. I thought the skills I had from my degree would be more than enough to secure any tech role. I didn’t have the right skills; I didn’t have enough experience. I was submitting countless job applications and getting rejected at every turn. I was ready to give up.
During my job hunt, I came across an advert for Digital Futures. I visited their website, read their engineer stories, and saw the vision they had for the industry. I was inspired by their success stories but due to all the rejections I was getting, I hesitated to apply at first. But my gut feeling was that their pathways align exactly what I’ve been looking for. I’d gone through multiple rejections, what’s one more?
Surprisingly, I got a quick reply. The interview was very smooth – I was able to share my story and passion for this industry. Although I did not have a single year of experience, it felt like a genuine conversation which I was happy about.
I was really excited to get my offer and start at the Academy. From day 1, you are surrounded by a supportive community and the environment really motivates you to reach your goals. The training itself felt simple to start with, but it ramps up day by day. The mentors and staff are extremely helpful in every possible way. Not only did I develop my technical skills to the current industry standard, but I also learnt the importance of professional skills such as effective communication, time management and interview skills which, I believe, isn’t talked about enough. I’m glad to have found plenty of colleagues who I could help and have helped me in return along the way, from pair-programming together, bug fixing and even conducting mock interviews amongst ourselves before the real thing.
Currently I’m a Python developer where I get to configure the network devices in the telco industry at one of Digital Futures’ clients. On a day-to-day basis, I’m usually developing features for upcoming network devices or bug fixing previous features to match the current version. Right now, my contribution to the team feels small but it’s still very rewarding. I have also picked up a separate project with a colleague to where I get to learn and apply my skills using React – this is an exciting opportunity as the organisation is very encouraging in terms of helping you to become more versatile as an individual.
The transition from the Academy to the workplace was seamless as I was equipped with the necessary technical and professional skills required. This was exactly the foundation I needed to kickstart my career and I cannot express enough gratitude towards Digital Futures for this amazing opportunity!
Digital Futures 
Scott Vincent 
