One of the highlights of my degree was working at Hawk-Eye as a software engineer for my placement year. I had the opportunity to develop software used at major sports events around the world, even going out to Australia to launch new software products at the Australian Open.

Change of direction

During my placement I found that I didn’t particularly enjoy software engineering and was more interested in product management, a role that involves working across the business, marketing and development teams to build and release products that meet users’ needs.

I gained real-world experience of the product manager role by releasing two software products at Hawk-Eye. I was told it was this experience that made me later stand out as a candidate and receive a job offer to be a Graduate Product Manager at Microsoft.

Excellent support network

I chose Bath primarily for the placement year that is integrated into the course. Placements are really well supported at Bath, the university has great industry contacts and around two-thirds of students go on placement, so you don’t lose your friends when you take a year out in industry.

The Placements Team also hosted CV workshops, mock interviews, and even put us in touch with students who had been on placement to give us insight into whether the roles would suit us.

Winning combination of degree and experience

A degree in computer science can set you up for many careers and when combined with the experience that a placement at Bath can give you, it gives you a great opportunity to leave university with a graduate job that best suits your skills and interests.