Steve Workman - Full Interview

Name: Steve
From: Lancaster
Degree: MComp Computer Science

I picked Computer Sciences at Sheffield quite simply because of Genesys. Sheffield is the only University in the world to offer a degree like this. It´s so much more valuable than a standard degree course and has helped me get a well paid job on graduation. I chose Computer Science, rather than Software Engineering or Artificial Intelligence because I wanted experience of every aspect of computing to open up the widest range of opportunities.

For Genesys, I chose to have a Marketing role, as it reflected the type of career that I eventually saw myself in. I didn´t want a purely developmental position and marketing offered more of a consultancy based role. My position in Genesys involved contract negotiations, finding clients and managing the software development teams. I´ve enjoyed the fact that the work has been business based, but needing a comprehensive technical knowledge in order to manage all the different project teams.

The first stage with any client is to do a feasibility study to see if we can take the project on, technically and time wise. The development team then performs a `requirements capture´ to find out exactly what the client wants, and translate it into storyboards. This isn´t as easy as it sounds as most clients don´t really know what they want at the beginning of a project – they get a better idea as they see the product develop which means a lot of changes later on. We then decide how many hours the project is going to take and produce a costing. I then negotiate costs with the client and organise the contracts. Genesys is a student-run company, so we charge about a tenth of what a standard software company would.

There are 6 different software development teams and two marketing people to keep the projects on track. We also organised the re-branding of Genesys - developed a new logo, templates and style set, re-did the website and produced promotional material and presentations.

Another interesting part of my degree was my third year research project, on computer graphics. I developed a way of making 3D objects explode realistically in computer games. The standard method of making a 3D object explode is to assemble it graphically out of several different components which then split apart. My method was to wrap the surface of an object in virtual mesh grid so the object fractured along the grid lines to a set pattern. The fractured pieces are then sealed up to create individual 3D pieces.

Genesys really helped me to get a job, and was fantastic when it came to interviews. There are always challenges, problems and awkward clients, which gives you a lot to talk about at interview, and a lot of way to demonstrate your competencies. It counts as work experience – like doing a sandwich year only you get the responsibility of actually running the company.

I graduate this summer then start work for PA Consulting as an analyst in their Information Systems division. I was also offered a job with Hewlett Packard but chose PA because of its reputation as one of the best consultancy firms in the world. You can be consulting on literally any project, anywhere in the world so the work is going to be extremely varied.