Read how Callum is starting his career without having to relocate away from his family
It wasn’t that long ago that young people still needed to move to a major city to get their careers off on the front foot. Unfortunately, that meant passionate and promising talent who couldn’t make that commitment was left behind. Thanks to technology, that’s no longer true. Now people can grow their skills and work with major companies across the country with just an internet connection.Take Callum for example, the Barnsley grad who is one of our newest Academy Engineers.
Before the Academy
“I finished university in 2020, which means I graduated when the COVID-19 pandemic had forced the country into lockdown. Both my mum and I were at high risk for COVID which means even attending any of the seldom interviews I could secure was a significant risk. That meant interviewing at the seldom places still open and offering them very difficult.“My old secondary school needed a temporary technician to work for a few months and they knew I was available, so they reached out to me. I was happy to have the work and while I was there, the Head of Science at the school suggested I look into joining Scale Factory. He said that his son had been with Scale Factory and that I had a similar skill set to his son, so perhaps I would enjoy it. I was always well organised, willing to help other people out, and had a little bit of tech knowledge from my A-levels so I finished up my three months there and applied to the Scale Factory Academy.”
Training at the Scale Factory Academy
“Before Scale Factory, I never appreciated just how in-depth technology was. I knew that programmers and testers were important to the companies they worked for or apps they’d build, but there was so much I didn’t know. Agile and Scrum were completely foreign concepts to me. I had never used Java before and I certainly didn’t have a set career path in mind. Joining the Academy was about growing my knowledge and seeing where it took me.“The first stage was submitting my CV, followed by recording a video interview. It wasn’t daunting – just a matter of answering a few questions. ‘Why are you interested in the world of technology?’ ‘What is a strength and a weakness that you have?’ Questions that helped show where I was in my career and how I approached things. Next was a maths and logic test that delved into how I approached problems and tackled logic problems. Finally, there was a group icebreaker with the wellbeing team and an interview with a couple of Scale Factory team members.
Callum’s Academy Training
Core training started: January-February 2022
Core training modules:
Specialist training: March-April 2022
Specialist training modules:
Software Development – Advanced programming concepts, object-oriented design, software development ecosystem“My core training was delivered virtually, then my specialist development training was in the Leeds office. I really enjoyed learning about Java and using databases so relished the opportunity when I was picked to join the Development training. In the Academy, you’re learning a lot in a short space of time, but there are people you can lean on to help you. That’s the whole point of the Academy environment. It isn’t a strict lesson that leads to a test. It’s an environment where you’re encouraged to ask questions, whether they arise because you’re facing a problem or if you simply want to explore something further.”
Reflecting on the Academy
“When I was trying to find work, I had multiple university friends from say there were vacancies at their workplaces. These were companies further north in Middlesborough, so quite a distance away from my family in Barnsley. It would have been a complete change for me to move somewhere like that just for work. On the other side of the coin, Barnsley isn’t a major city so doesn’t have comparable opportunities for jobs. If you ‘stay local’ you limit yourself to the companies hiring in that area. I was in a tough situation.“Joining the Scale Factory Academy means I can continue to grow my skills and work on large projects while working remotely. This is a real asset and opens up a world of possibilities. Working with a major company no longer requires moving to a major city so I have the flexibility of being able to work wherever I have an internet connection with the stability of being part of Scale Factory and joining the clients they partner with.
Before, my career prospects were closely tied to where I lived. Now, there are so many possibilities open to me.”
From Peter Russell, Scale Factory Head of Technical Training
“Callum showed his eagerness from day one of the Academy and has built a solid foundation for the start of his career. He’s also shown initiative in his problem solving – changing programming languages in the middle of one project. Doing that while you’re still completing your training takes real confidence. We’re excited to place Callum with a client and support his continued growth as he takes his first steps into the exciting world of technology, development, and coding languages.”
Specialist training: March-April 2022
Specialist training modules: Software Development – Advanced programming concepts, object-oriented design, software development ecosystem“My core training was delivered virtually, then my specialist development training was in the Leeds office. I really enjoyed learning about Java and using databases so relished the opportunity when I was picked to join the Development training. In the Academy, you’re learning a lot in a short space of time, but there are people you can lean on to help you. That’s the whole point of the Academy environment. It isn’t a strict lesson that leads to a test. It’s an environment where you’re encouraged to ask questions, whether they arise because you’re facing a problem or if you simply want to explore something further.”
