Sanjeevan’s degree and industrial placement year have been highly transferable, which helped him find a job at Airbus
What I have learnt at uni has been highly transferable and I am glad that I chose the course that offered so many opportunities to upskill myself and prepare for future opportunities.
My journey: from aspiring pilot to University of Portsmouth
I really wanted to be a pilot growing up hence I spent the gap year trying to get into pilot training schemes. Whilst at one of the assessment days for one of the schemes, the interviewer asked me - you’ve been out of school for a while and how do we know you can study again. So, I decided that I needed to go to uni and get a qualification. I was really interested in Space and Physics hence I decided to study it. Eventually, I was in a dilemma whether to study at King's College London or to study at Portsmouth. I chose University of Portsmouth as I wanted to spread my wings a little and the Physics course at Portsmouth was very much aimed at employability which was my initial reason to go to the university.
Moving to Portsmouth was scary at first but then it was really fun and exciting. Lots of mistakes were made along the way but ultimately it all worked out fine and it was a great learning experience. It has given me a massive boost in confidence as well as it has helped me make new friends, do well in my job and put myself out there which has hugely helped me make the most of my time at university.
My life at the University
There is something here for everyone! Whether you are sporty, gamer, artistic, quiet or outgoing. The place has it all and it's super inclusive of everyone so you will find the right crowd for you. There is a world-class Physics taking place right here at ICG in Portsmouth which is always exciting and extraordinary.
Throughout my years at university, one thing I really enjoyed was computational physics. Coding and problem-solving using code has always been fun for me, and it even came handy on my placement and I have no doubt it will come handy in the future too.
My day-to-day life is mostly spent on campus, starting the day at the gym or swimming at Ravelin, then lectures and the study room for most of the day. Eventually, I come back home for some rest and sometimes social stuff. On some evenings I go training for the sports societies and weekends are often either light work or relaxing when there are no exams.
Food is something I love and Gunwharf Quays offers a lot of options and with student discount things are affordable for special occasions. If you are lucky you can find really good deals which are always exciting.
My placement year experience and how it helped me find a job at Airbus
My placement year experience helped me consolidate my learnings at university. I did a placement year at Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) and worked as part of the team - defining and de-risking future force protection architecture. In my engineering role, I helped test and design certain equipment/software to showcase the officials in government and military. It was very exciting work and super hands on. It gave me a clearer understanding of the industry and work life. Completing a placement added valuable relevant experience on my CV and it massively helped in finding a graduate Job at Airbus.
I extensively used the Student Placement and Employability Service at the university, they helped a lot with my CV and interview prep which was very helpful in finding and getting placement.
My advice for others
Don’t stress too much about going to university. Just do what you love, don’t worry about if it will give you a job at the end of it, do what you like and you will find a way to make it work. Always put yourself out there, it's one of the best things you can do for all aspects of your life.