Turn On Your Future @ UWTSD's School of Applied Computing & Electronics

Posts tagged ‘Cisco’

Graduate profile: Dale Warner

Graduate profile for Dale Warner, a Solutions Engineer at Cisco.

"Exposure to new and challenging events is critical. Everyone is winging it; no one can know it all."

"Creativity requires play, and play can be messy. Embrace the cluttered desk!"

"My days can range from face-to-face customer meetings across the UK, building high level plans/designs/BoMs from my home office, or turning my time to study so I can stay on-top of the latest technology trends."

Q. Name: Dale Warner

Q. What was your university course: BSc (Hons) Computer Networks

Q. Job title and role? Solutions Engineer at the Central Government Team at Cisco

Q. Briefly describe the organization you work for? Cisco are the market leader when it comes to networking. They also provide cutting edge technologies and services across a wide range of areas; Security, collaboration, observability, to name a few.

Q. Which skills learned at university are helpful to you in your job? While at university the most important skill I learned was how to concisely present a complex idea or solution. Being able to do so allows me to talk and explain new products and ideas to customers, cutting out all the unnecessary fluff.

Q. A typical day and how would you describe it? Like any engineer, two days are very rarely the same. But I talk with customers about their technical issues and look to provide Cisco solutions to bridge the gap. This requires me having a board understanding of a range of technologies and where/how Cisco products can be used. My days can range from face-to-face customer meetings across the UK, building high level plans/designs/BoMs from my home office, or turning my time to study so I can stay on-top of the latest technology trends.

Q. What aspects of your job do you enjoy most? I enjoy meeting customers, understanding their needs, and proposing suitable solutions. This, alongside learning on the latest technologies and having a future vision of the technology industry.

Q. Advise for students who would like to start a Career? It’s okay not to have an end goal, so long as you know what you want to do next. When your end destination isn’t set you can put all your effort into achieving your next goal. Exposure to new and challenging events is critical. Everyone is winging it; no one can know it all.

Q. A quote that you like / live by / inspires you?
My favorite quote is a quip from Albert Einstein “if a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” I’d like to add – creativity requires play, and play can be messy. Embrace the cluttered desk!


Thank you for your profile Dale, it will help to inspire current and future students.
We are most grateful. We hope to see you at future alumni events.
Well done and Congratulates on your success Dale.
Da iawn a llongyfarchiadau Dale

~

Virgin Graduate scheme : Lewis Meehan

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UWTSD Computing Graduate Lewis Meehan tells us about his exciting new future at Virgin Media:

Q. What was your HE course?

A: BSc Computer Networks

Q. What is your job title and role?

A: Systems Integration Graduate

Q. Could you briefly describe the organization you work for?

A: Virgin Media – Data Services, owned by Liberty Global – the largest telecommunications company in the world.

Q. Which skills learned at University are helpful to you in your job?

A: Independent working/research and also the broad range of industry specific knowledge.

Q. Do you have a typical day and how would you describe it?

A: Every day is different. Some days I’ll be in my local office working furthering my HE studies towards certification [Cisco certifications: CCNA+CCNP+CCNA Specialisation+CCNP Specialisation], alongside providing standardised connection packages to small-medium businesses and assisting on larger  project based work for bespoke networking solutions. Other days I’ll be at a clients site and some might even be spent in hotels going segwaying, raft building or even just days out with the other Virgin Media graduates.

Q. What aspects of your job do you enjoy most?

A: Working with some awesome and expensive technology, which changes from day to day. Also the responsibility I’ve been giving from the start, Virgin Media put a lot of trust in their employees which creates a really nice environment to work in.

Q. Do you have any advice for students who would like to start a Career?

A: Make University a friendly competition; it’ll help both you and other people on your course at the end of it.

> For more information about Graduate positions at Virgin please click-here.

Graduate Profile: Michael R Owen

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What was your HE course and when did you graduate? 

BSc (HONS) Computer Networks in 2012

 What is your job title and role?

Telecommunications engineer.

My role at Swansea IT Group is to provide support for the organizations many clients, ranging from network troubleshooting/advice, configuring Linux servers, training clients to use the PBX system, and general support.

 Could you briefly describe the organization you work for?

The organization provides a range of IT solutions (VoIP, web design, network design, consultancy, and system administration). For the VoIP system they use Asterisk on a Linux server incorporating an open source platform called Vicidial.

Which skills learned at University are helpful to you in your job?

I have learned a number of skills after graduating from University. By sticking to assignment deadlines and the final year project, I learnt how to effectively prioritize my workload. This has helped in my role, as I may be given a number of support tickets each day ranging from simple fixes to more advanced troubleshooting. Which all need to be prioritized based on the difficulty or the alert level of the ticket.

My course helped me develop my troubleshooting skills by understanding the fundamentals of computer networks, such as the OSI model. With a good understanding of the OSI model you can quickly judge what can be causing an issue, by narrowing down the problem to a specific layer.  With this way of thinking you can easily resolve problems which are not networking related.

Using the Cisco equipment to build networks for assignments quickly helps you build up your troubleshooting abilities as you can make mistakes that you would not normally make or see when using a network simulator.

What aspects of your job do you enjoy most?

My favourite aspect of the job is configuring networks and providing network consultancy to new and current clients. Whether it be how they should design their network, to suggesting VPNs, and general troubleshooting to provide a stable and secure network.

If you could give advice to current students what would it be?

If you’re ending your second year I would suggest making a start on your final year project, as I completed my literary review in January, it provided me with plenty of time to spend on the implementation and troubleshooting of my final year project. This in turn, gave me more flexibility for completing assignments and plenty of time for exam revision.

I would advise any networking students to complete their CCNA studies before the final year, as the final year can be heavy in work load with the final year project, assignments and exams.

The CCNA is a valuable certification to gain, as it will help you stand out from those who do not have the certification when applying for networking/IT support related jobs. If you are interesting in taking on a networking role, there are plenty of other Cisco certifications other than the routing and switching path, which may interest you.

Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards

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Applied Computing  graduates short-listed as one of 8 companies for the welsh heats of the Lloyds TSB enterprise awards.

Congratulations to Swansea Met Applied Computing graduates Max Willems (CISCO 2009) and Daniel Morris (Web Development 2011) and Appah Prince a Swansea University graduate who have set up a business called Room Paddy. The business aim is to make travel more social, fun, enjoyable and pleasant.

RoomPaddy

Good luck in the Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards and we wish you all the very best for your continued Success.