My name is Amira Remadna and I am second year student at Oxford Brookes university; studying a combined course- computer science with business management. During my studies it took me a while to realise what I really wanted and what my passion is. The support I received from family and friends and TARGETjobs IT’s not just for the boys! event really helped this process.
I have always been a maths girl, which lead me to study maths stream at secondary
school. At the very last minute before applyi
ng through UCAS I changed my
personal statement and my course from foundation degree in science to maths
with business management information, international business and research
studies- in order to have a business management and computer science degree.
After my first year at university and getting involved in
societies especially being the Oxford Brookes faculty ambassador for both
departments (business school and computer science) I started to lean towards the
computer science route. I attended IT’s not just for the boys!, which is a special
event ran by TARGETjobs, designed exclusively for female students who are
looking to find out more about opportunities within technology . It was an
excellent day and it made me realise how big the sector is and the amount of
different opportunities available. At the end of the day you gain such
confidence and inspiration you realise that you can achieve anything regardless
of your gender.
When I first decided to apply
for a placement I had very little confidence because I had no work experience related
to technology. I thought it would be impossible for me to get experience as I
knew other students already had a lot of experience. However I did not give up,
I decided to start working and build my CV before applying. The event extremely
boosted my confidence and has allowed me to develop as a candidate and helped
me to secure my placement.
My dream job has always been
with IBM and luckily for me they happened to be one of the companies that attended
the event. During the day students participated in a team challenge, which was a
perfect chance to showcase my skills to IBM. The longer I spoke to IBM representatives
and current graduates on their schemes enabled me to gain more information from
them, which helped me stand out from the crowd. It was simply the perfect
chance to meet IBM and learn tips for their applications. Moreover, I spent all
day interacting with various companies and great people such as senior managers
at Dell.
Straight after the event I
applied to IBM and it was my one and only application, so I put in all my
efforts, to get my dream job. After passing the first stage of the application
form, I attended many interviews where I showed my interest in security. Each stage of the application grew more challenging, until one
day I received an email stating I had passed the assessment centre, where I then
received an offer for a security role interview.
