Story 4 - Tom Fanning
Tom Fanning studied a degree in information engineering systems at UMIST (now the University of Manchester). He undertook a 12-week paid placement with Edgebyte.
I worked as a software developer for a legal software company, Edgebyte. The job was quite specific; they had an existing product that they had big plans for, but lacked the skills within the company to achieve their goals. My job was to bring that expertise into the business and do a three-month trial run, to see if their ideas were feasible.
Over the 12-week period I learned a lot about state-of-the-art of web application development, which involved researching new technologies, new development environments and trialling several different web platforms. I had to learn fast and produce results quickly - three months flies by faster than you might think.
Edgebyte is a small company; there were only three directors and a secretary when I started, so building a good rapport with them was absolutely essential. I found myself becoming a jack of all trades. I ended up designing and implementing all sorts of new systems and technology I'd never thought I'd get involved with, for example, office phone systems and customer relationship databases.
Fortunately the work was paid. I had been lucky enough to pick up a good range of skills and experience during my year out, and Edgebyte had a real business need for the skill set that I was bringing to the company. As it was only a 12-week placement, I set about getting stuck in right from the start. I was fortunate to have a lot of support from the directors who took a keen interest in what I was doing, as it had the potential to shape the future direction of their business.
Being thrown into the deep end in a real-life business means you have to learn fast. I quickly learned to keep communications open - management like regular reports and updates, and good communication helps you stay focused on the job in hand.
Following the placement I was offered a part-time, and then a full-time position with the company. More and more employers seem to be doing the same these days. For as long as I can remember, I knew that I wanted a career in science, engineering or technology - the placement was really just the icing on the cake.
