How to become a senior systems engineer: Ben's story

Ben Kadel - Senior systems engineer

As a senior systems engineer, I am responsible for writing code for the Android apps of Very and Littlewoods that allow people to shop using their mobile phone.

A typical day for me starts with usually a stand-up meeting with the rest of my team so that’s literally where we stand up in a circle, we tell each other about what we’ve done the previous day, what we’re doing that day and then any blockers that we might have that we can help one another out with.

After that, I’d usually go to my desk and find out what ‘tickets’ have been assigned to me. So a ticket is like a very small job, essentially, maybe write this piece of code, fix this feature et cetera and then I would get hands into the code and actually code a solution for it.

I started in university with a computer games programming degree. After that, I decided to become a teacher, so I went to do my PGCE and became an ICT high school teacher. I decided teaching wasn’t for me and I moved to Germany to become a bartender and work at a hotel and try and explore the world a little bit.

I then moved back to the UK and became an IT technician so fixing computers in high schools. After that, I actually moved back to Germany and started working at a start-up company that made fast-food apps for the entirety of Germany. And finally, I got a phone call and was actually head-hunted for an associate systems engineer role here at the Very Group, so as you can probably tell my journey wasn’t the most straight forward one!

My biggest piece of advice for anybody that’s trying to get into this industry is always be learning. That might sound a bit silly and a bit cheesy but it’s really important. The best way to become a good coder is by practising; practise, practise, practise! Have side projects that you’re constantly working on in the background. This is also incredibly important for when you’re looking to get a job. Companies, one of the first things they’ll do is ask you about side projects that you’ve worked on or look at your portfolio of things that you’ve created.

One of the biggest challenges for myself personally was I was particularly bad at maths and I was told by everyone that you needed to be amazing at maths in order to get any sort of job in the computing industry, however, I overcame this by just simply learning how to code and understanding thoroughly how computers worked and it turned out, it wasn’t a problem for me anymore.

Aside from the obvious computer science and ICT at school, theatre studies and drama was a really big help for me and showed me how to communicate to people, present and sort of build my own confidence in myself.

This is a job that I never ever even dreamed of; I never thought I would ever get a job like this. To be honest, I didn’t even know this job existed in the first place but now I’m here, I’m coding, I’m interacting with amazing people on a day-to-day basis and the job satisfaction here is phenomenal. Whenever anybody downloads the Very app onto their phone, they’ve actually got my code, something that I’ve created, right there in their hands and for me, that’s amazing, that’s why I love my job!

Emma-Louise Have you ever had an idea for an invention, something you thought would make your life easier? If so, you've taken your first steps into engineering something.

Frankie As an engineer, you apply scientific principles to design and help create all sorts of things like buildings, aircrafts, or bras.

Emma-Louise Traditionally, engineering falls in four main categories: chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering. And, within each of these, there are more specific types of engineering disciplines.

Frankie There were nearly 870,000 engineers in the UK [in 2020], with an estimated 4% growth of just under 40,000 more jobs by 2025.

Emma-Louise You could consider roles such as electrical engineer, chemical engineer, mechanical engineer, nuclear engineer, or software engineer. For electrical engineers,

Frankie people who design, build and maintain electrical systems and equipment,

Emma-Louise there is an expected job growth of just under 1,600 jobs by 2025. As of 2020, the median salary was just over £50,000 per year.

Frankie For civil engineers,

Emma-Louise people who design and manage construction projects, anything from bridges to sports stadiums,

Frankie there's an expected growth of approximately 2,800 jobs by 2025, with a median salary of around £44,500.

Emma-Louise And for mechanical engineers,

Frankie people who develop and design machines that are used in various industries from construction to farming,

Emma-Louise there's an expected growth of just under 2,600 jobs by 2025, with a salary of around £42,000. If you've got a curious mind and love problem solving, engineering could be a good career path for you.

Frankie There are many ways into engineering. The first thing to figure out might be what kind of engineering you're interested in.

Emma-Louise You could consider apprenticeships that are relevant to that role, like a Level 6 Manufacturing Engineer or a Level 6 Electro-mechanical Engineer apprenticeship. These typically take between four and six years to complete.

Frankie Of course, there are also many university courses you could look into. Courses such as Electro-mechanical Engineering, Applied Physics, or Aeronautical Engineering. You would usually need two or three A-levels or equivalent for these, and some of these courses will specify if you need particular A-levels, or the equivalent. Maths and Science subjects are sometimes required.

Emma-Louise There's now more choice as the new T-level qualification is available in England. These two-year courses are equivalent to three A-levels and involve 80% classroom learning and 20% industry placement.

Frankie You can also find out about courses accredited by professional engineering institutions from the Engineering Council.

Emma-Louise Engineers have valuable transferable skills that are handy for other job roles and everyday life, such as problem solving, critical thinking, and working through potential solutions.

Frankie If you've heard things in the past that have made you think engineering is not for you, it might be worth taking a deeper look. Engineers are working on some of the most exciting challenges we face, be it enhancing virtual reality or engineering better medicines. Let's hear from some professionals. Ben is an aerospace engineer. "I love interacting and working with people to find solutions to problems. I enjoy knowing that millions of people fly around the world every year on products that I have helped develop. There's a big push at the moment for more environmentally friendly solutions. Air travel is a massive contributor to global warming and so anything that the industry can do to reduce harmful gases being emitted will make a big impact."

Emma-LouiseDavid, an expert at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, says: "The most exciting thing about engineering and technology is that there will be roles in the next five to 10 years that don't exist yet. Artificial intelligence (AI), coding and ‘green jobs’ – those that work to combat climate change – will continue to evolve and be some of the most important roles within the sector in years to come. It's also really important that the engineering industry is inclusive and representative as engineers, design products and services for everyone."

Emma-Louise Engineering is creative, exciting and not to mention that it pays pretty well once you've worked your way up beyond junior roles. The median wage within the sector is over £41,000, compared to the median full-time salary in the UK which is around £28,500.

Frankie There's also particularly strong growth in software publishing and wireless communications.

Emma-Louise Engineering is also an industry where the gender mix isn't well balanced, although the research is unclear as to why.

Frankie The main shortfall here is engineers who identify as female. As of 2020, 88% of engineers identified as male. However, lots of employers are keen to change this, so there should be more and more opportunities coming up for engineers who identify as female.

Emma-Louise One thing that's for sure is that there are going to be lots of opportunities available in the engineering sector, with just under 40,000 new jobs expected by 2025. So, if this has piqued your interest, then it'll be worth doing some more research to see if this is right for you.