Graduate profile
Robyn Critcher
Course: BSc Computer Science
Graduated: 2018
Current role: Senior Data and Analytics Consultant at EY
The computer science course at the University of Nottingham stood out from other universities as the focus wasn't just on programming and allowed me to explore other aspects of the subject which I had particular interests in. I was also really impressed by the labs and many libraries on offer to students.
Studying at Nottingham was so much fun. We had really brilliant professors who made the labs and lectures interesting with relevant and unique coursework tasks which kept me engaged with the course content.
I loved living on Jubilee campus in first year. It's so diverse, with students studying a huge variety of courses from all over the world. I definitely developed some lifelong friendships living there. It's also super convenient to live so close to the labs and lecture halls.
I'm currently working as a Senior Data and Analytics Consultant in Financial Services. The most rewarding thing about my job is being able to solve problems for clients and develop solutions which work for their unique challenges. I also get to work alongside some incredibly talented and interesting colleagues, so getting to learn from their experiences is really valuable.
I started this job on a graduate scheme straight out of university. The shift from uni life to full time work was definitely a challenge. It took me a little while to settle into my new routine, but it helped that I had joined with over 100 other graduates who were in the exact same position.
I learned so many skills on my course which are integral to my day to day work and have helped me succeed in my career so far. I often work with databases so the Databases and Interfaces module from first year gave me a really good foundation to build on. I learned important data analysis skills such as SQL throughout my course, as well as information visualisation skills from an optional module in third year. I was also able to apply my learning from the Professional Ethics in Computing module when studying for the CIMA Certificate of Management Accounting, a requirement for my current job role. In addition to the course content, I was able to learn a lot about working as part of a team through the Software Engineering Group Project in second year. It was a really similar set-up to some of the projects I work on now and the soft skills gained from the module have been really valuable.