I am a software developer in the West Europe Real-time Market Data Feeds team. I implement applications to connect to financial exchanges, receive data about market prices in real time, normalise it and pass it to Bloomberg's database.

One of the challenges in my role is to ensure that the software is robust and very low latency as it cannot crash during market hours and the data must be available within milliseconds. On a day-to-day basis, I would be working to implement features to normalise new financial data. I could also be fixing a bug for an existing application.

How has your career developed since graduating from the University of Birmingham and what is the best thing about what you're doing now?

During university, I worked part-time for a mobile game studio during my second year. For my year in industry (third year), I applied for a placement and was interning at Bloomberg full-time. After my placement I was offered to return there, so I did. The best thing about what I am doing is that I am able to learn advanced techniques of my chosen programming language (C++) and have the opportunity to discuss it with colleagues and apply it in production.

What motivates you?

I am motivated to become a better programmer than I am. I want to be confident in modern C++.

Why did you apply to the University of Birmingham and how did your time here help you start your career?

Of all the universities I applied to, Birmingham's course looked most challenging. On the applicant visit day, Birmingham's Computer Science Department definitely felt the most friendly and energetic out of all the universities I visited. Challenging myself in a friendly, encouraging and energetic environment was exactly I was looking for at university. My time at university, especially in my Games Development Society, has taught me the value of community and knowledge. I am now part of a national community of student Game Developers (LevelUp UK, lvlup.org.uk) where we motivate and inspire each other to achieve our goals in games development. This is not directly related to my day-job career, but it is a big part of my life now.

What are your fondest memories of the University?

Discussing computer science with my course mates, working together with them to solve difficult problems. The excitement I shared with my friends in the face of a challenge bonded us even after university.