Aqeel Rafiq (Computer Science with Industrial Experience BSc, 2015)

Why did you choose to study Computer Science with Industrial Experience at Queen Mary?

I chose to study at Queen Mary for a number of reasons, the first being the location in east London – the campus is so near Brick Lane, you can’t go wrong food wise! I also chose Queen Mary because the Mile End campus is one of the nicest, if not the nicest, campuses in London and having viewed the campus on an open day and then lived there for around 2 years, I loved the sense of community and the fact that everything is on your doorstep.

I chose this course specifically because I had a passion for computer science after seeing my cousin study the same course at Queen Mary and given that the world is moving very fast towards technology, I wanted to be at the center of this and where better to study then at one of the leading universities for Computer Science?

One of the reasons I chose to do an industrial year was to gain experience; university is a very competitive environment and I always tell kids who ask me for advice that Queen Mary has the best teachers and offers the best support. Claire Revell helped me polish my interview skills countless times; I think I was rejected from 20 placements and then I ended up getting the dream internship at my current company eBay - that’s right, I started at eBay as an intern!

Tell us a bit about your time at Queen Mary, including any special or favourite memories.

There were a number of standout memories from my time at Queen Mary. I restarted the cricket team when I first joined and this is something that I take immense pride in, as well as being part of the ULU (University of London) cricket team, where I was selected to represent Queen Mary after attending a trial at lords in which 100 players participated, but only the best were chosen.

Course wise, I took immense pride in my dissertation which saw me build an app from scratch. Coding was something that I really struggled with at university but I somehow managed to get a first for my project and my tutor Peter McCowan (may he Rest in Peace), was really impressed with my app. It was a cricket app designed to educate people how to bowl quick; I worked on this with a friend of mine who was a former professional cricketer, Carl Greenidge.

One of my favourite memories was being part of the computer science football team and being the leading goal scorer that season! I remember scoring a penalty in the last minute which meant we went unbeaten all season and won the league.

I also enjoyed the fact that Queen Mary was cosmopolitan; I got to know people of all different races and faiths and we even had study abroad students from America join us, whom I grew very close to.

Claire Revell helped me polish my interview skills countless times; I think I was rejected from 20 placements and then I ended up getting the dream internship at my current company eBay - that’s right, I started at eBay as an intern!

Describe your career path since graduating. How does your current role allow you to explore what you feel passionate about?

As I mentioned early on, I was very lucky that I done an internship as part of my degree; this allowed me to be ‘one year’ ahead of students graduating before me as I already had one year of real job experience on my CV. Being an intern at eBay during my third year set me up perfectly for working life and taught me a lot about discipline. I have always been passionate about working in big companies that promote good culture, hence why I love working at eBay.

It just so happened 2 months before I graduated, I was offered a management job at Shopstyle. I was so fortunate as straight after my final year exams, I flew to San Francisco for training, and it was a dream flying out to the tech hub of the world and directly applying the knowledge I learnt at Queen Mary. I will always be grateful to my first manager Genevieve for putting faith in me at such a young age. This experience taught me a lot about myself.

What is it like to work for such a globally renowned company and what is the workplace culture like?

I remember being an intern at eBay 10 years ago and I made friends with people then that I keep in touch with today, some of whom attended my wedding. I have loved my time at eBay; I always get asked what it’s like working here and in all honesty, eBay has a great culture and I have a great manager who supports me in my career and career progression and empowers me to lead the team I manage.

eBay has consistently been voted as the best place to work in the UK and it has some amazing benefits in terms of the people you work with (which is the biggest benefit as I am talking about some of the smartest people in the country!), stock benefits, and if you work at eBay for 5 years you get a month off free! Paternity and maternity leave is very generous too.

How has your degree remained relevant throughout your career and are there any particular areas of your degree that you use in your day-to-day job?

I apply a number of skills in my degree in my day-to-day life, my current role and previous roles. For example, at my previous job at Zoovu, where I was director of delivery, my css and html skills came in handy, and I built my own assistants for big corporate companies - I even built an assistant for Spotify in two days! I was also able to change the delivery culture at Zoovu; before I joined, the average project was delivered in 3 months and after I joined, projects were delivered in 2 weeks as I was able to find shortcuts in the process due to the skills and knowledge I gained at Queen Mary. As a result of this, my CEO promoted me!

What has been your biggest career highlight to date and what are your career plans for the future?

I take immense pride in the fact that I have been made director already and as I mentioned earlier, I think this was down to the fact that Queen Mary and my sandwich placement year at one of the biggest companies in the world gave me an edge.

For me, the standout moment to date was my very first job in San Francisco, where I was managing someone whilst I was still doing my degree. This was probably the most stressful time of my life to date; my parents always ask me how I managed and I honestly don’t know! I have just always found a way to succeed through sheer drive and determination.

My advice to graduates is that life has its ups and downs but strap yourself in for the ride and accept that not everything will go your way. What is written is what will happen.

What has been your biggest learning curve in your career so far and what advice would you give to current students and recent graduates wanting to break into the tech industry?

I think the best piece of advice I was given is to ‘be patient’. I have always found it challenging to be a manager at a young age, especially as I have tended to manage people older than me, which naturally comes with its own struggles. I pride myself on being able to adapt to situations quickly. You have some good managers and bad managers; it’s just about persevering in life and keeping positive. I’ve struggled with some jobs when I first started, to the point where I wanted to quit, but I’ve always told myself things will get better, and they always do. The hardest part of a job is the first few months as you’re the ‘new kid on the block’.

My advice to graduates is that life has its ups and downs but strap yourself in for the ride and accept that not everything will go your way. What is written is what will happen.

Finally, outside of work, what do you do to unwind? Is there anything people find surprising or admiring about you?

I love travelling and doing charity work. I’ve been to charity missions in Malawi, Jordan, and Palestine. I take great pride in being able to give back to people and it puts my own life into perspective going abroad and seeing other people struggle for basic things like food and water, meanwhile back home we are stressing about our next pay rise etc. I also love sport. I support Arsenal and regularly go to games with my dad and I also love cricket and boxing so I’m quite sporty outside of work!

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This profile was conducted by Alumni Engagement Officer, Nicole Brownfield. If you would like to get in touch with Aqeel or engage him in your work, please contact Nicole at n.brownfield@qmul.ac.uk.