The support of staff and exposure to industry helped me to plan my career path

I chose to study with EEE at the University of Sheffield firstly because of the reputation of University of Sheffield and the high ranking of its EEE department. This can not only bring us excellent and talented teaching staff, but also ensures us a good exposure to the industry.  I still remember our “Engineering -  You’re Hired” project where we met professionals from the augmented reality industry and pitched our design to them. This triggered my interest in the technology, media and telecom (TMT) industry and become my career plan to do financial services for a TMT company.

Secondly, there is a good combination of hardware and software modules. This can help us to have a good view of all the industry sectors and decide which part we would like to develop for our future career.

Last but not least, there are huge number of international students under the EEE department. Communicating with talented future engineers from different background, different cultures with different stories can not only help our study, but also expand our knowledge outside the books.

There are lots of exciting moments in my study, but if I must pick one that impressed me the most, I will definitely choose my experience on the final year project. This is because I chose the topic based on my interest which is programming using MATLAB and with the supervision of my excellent tutor Andrew Maiden, I made a Sudoku puzzle solving program. As well as enjoying the exploration of computer science and programming innovatively, the expertise of using MATLAB is also very useful in my future study in MSc Finance at University College London (UCL).

I met the most friendly and talented teaching staff in my life during my study at the University of Sheffield. There is an old saying in China that education not only teaches book knowledge, but also cultivates a person. The teaching staff at the University of Sheffield are good at both. Although different lectures or tutors may have different teaching styles, they do care about students and give them enough support and freedom to explore their future life.

When I talked with Prof John David and my tutor Andrew Maiden about my plan to apply for a finance master and work in finance field, they both provided me great support by not only writing my reference letter, but also helped me to highlight my strengths in the application. They are the epitome of teaching staffs in the University of Sheffield and I really enjoyed studying under their support.  

Life in Sheffield is amazing. It might not be like life in a big city, but it’s a perfect place for study life. University life is not only about study. Here you could enjoy food from different countries, night life in the city or hiking in the peak district during the weekend. It’s always nice to have a drink and play pool in the pubs with your friends after a hard coursework or after the test. There are also tons of student society and activities in Sheffield, everyone can fine a place for themselves to relax from the study.  

Currently I’m studying MSc Finance at UCL and I hope to find an investment bank job back in China. As the competition is fierce, my bottom line is to start my career in financial industry and try move to investment bank after accumulating some professional experiences. After working for two years, I will try to come back to the UK for MBA study and try to further develop my career. My wish is to work at a TMT group of an investment bank in Hong Kong after that and apply my knowledge from both EEE and finance in the industry.

It’s an amazing experience to study at EEE in Sheffield and will influence your whole life. If you want to be an engineer surely in the future, EEE at Sheffield can give you both technical knowledge and practical experience to achieve that. If you are not sure about your career plan, EEE at Sheffield will give you enough freedom and support to explore your future and it’s always helpful to gain some programming skills and hardware knowledges which can be helpful to whatever you will do in the future. In one word, stop considering and hope to see you in Sheffield soon.