Alumni profile: Gabriel Arusoae

Meet UCL History Alum Gabriel Arusoae who talks to us about his journey to becoming a Software Engineer.

Please share a brief introduction to your career path, from graduation to where you are now.  

After graduating in 2018 I took six months out to try to figure out what I wanted to do next. Although Humanities is/was a great passion of mine I was always passionate about tech and all things tech. I therefore took some online courses and learned the basic skills in order to apply to some entry level tech roles. I went to interviews and landed my first one.

Provide a brief summary of your core duties and describe what skills are important to your role?   

I am part of the web/infrastructure team in my current role, dealing with the business-critical systems that help run the digital products that my company markets and sells. Teamwork, communication, selflessness and attentiveness to detail are some of the skills important to my role. 

How did your time at UCL prepare you for the workplace?

A combination of UCL Careers panel sessions with UCL Alumni and my interest in branching out away from my degree.  

Trying new activities and meeting new people with different perspectives on life from different societies and parts of UCL, ensured that my experience at UCL was rich and varied. I did not want to “box” myself in to just my degree as I felt like that would severely limit my experience at university and I wanted to make the most of it all. These experiences helped me to also think outside of the box when it came to what I wanted to do next in the workplace. 

Were there any challenges in your job hunt?  

Having little to no commercial experience was a bit of a barrier, but arguably more of a mental barrier as although many job descriptions on LinkedIn or other job boards can be quite verbose and make you feel like you are “not ready” you should believe in yourself and let your passion for the role shine through in your interview. 

Top tips for current students: List up to 3 short quick tips that you would like to share with current students.

• Always be vigilant and open-minded when it comes to opportunities. 
• Whatever you are interested in, convey a genuine sense of passion for it in the interviews.  
• Never give up.