Career stories

Name: Anjali Trace 

Age: 23

How did you hear about the Infinity Works (IW) Academy programme?

IW had a stall at my university’s Careers In Tech fair. I got talking with Danielle and left with a good first impression of IW’s work culture and an idea of what the Academy would be. Thanks for that first chat Danielle!

What attracted you to apply for the IW Academy?

I was looking for something that would give me time to learn and also get me into action relatively quickly. The Academy seemed perfect for this – I liked the idea of learning loads in three months in a safe environment (making plenty of mistakes along the way), then transitioning to an account where I could develop skills on the job.

What were you doing at the time?

I was studying computer science & maths at the University of York.

What were your career ambitions (and how did IW fit into this)?

Coming up to the end of my degree and having just completed a year in industry as a software developer, I knew I wanted a similar job. I learnt a lot during my placement year, mostly solving technical problems, but could see some colleagues had excellent (what I’d now call) consultancy skills. The ability to, not only figure out what a good technical solution was, but to explain to a team or persuade a client why it was a good solution and worth spending time on. I wanted to work somewhere I could develop those skills and IW fit the bill perfectly.

What did you enjoy most about your time with the Academy?

Presenting our final project – Infinopoly (an online multiplayer Infinity Works-branded version of Monopoly) – at the end of month social was pretty great. Everyone had worked hard and being able to show off our work to the wider company and enjoy it was a really satisfying end to our time in the Academy. Despite some persistent efforts to mess up our leaderboard, nothing broke on the night and it was a really nice celebration of how far we’d all come.

What did you learn about becoming a successful consultant?

We had quite a few people from across the company come chat with us or run sessions as part of the Academy. Talking to people who were already doing what we wanted to do was really helpful in getting an idea of what it would be like. Previous ‘Academites’ were especially helpful as they had been in our shoes not too long ago.

How have you found your first few months as a consultant at Infinity Works?

Challenging – which was what I was hoping for! I’ve really enjoyed being able to learn so much on the job and try things well outside of my comfort zone. I started on a project with a stack of languages and frameworks I had never touched before but I have felt really supported through that learning curve. On the non-tech side of things, I’ve had the opportunity to demo my team’s work to client stakeholders and also take the lead with chunks of work. Of course there are rough bits – it’s easy to feel out of your depth when faced with so much unknown, but asking for help when needed has meant I’ve never felt overwhelmed.

What words of advice would you give to someone starting this year’s Academy?

Ask questions. Your academy leads and of course fellow Academites have plenty of knowledge and are there to support you. It sounds obvious, but if you’re unsure of something, ask about it. If something doesn’t quite make sense, challenge it. Chances are someone else is wondering the same thing. There’s no better way to learn!