My placement journey: A glimpse into the world of software and retail
Altif ALi
Studying Computing BSc(Hons)
"My placement journey started before I even started university. I visited on an open day and had a presentation from the School of Computing and Engineering Placement Team. That was when I started to think about placements and how they could make me more employable".
In the end I applied to 27 companies some of which included HP, ASDA, HMRC, Puma and Arris Global. I received 7 interviews and of those 7 I was offered 3 roles. I decided to go with PUMA because I liked the company ethos and I felt the role would suit me.
When I started at Puma, I was given an extensive induction to all the different departments of the company. I was also given the chance to visit the London office to meet with the other placement students and new starters. Visiting London was quite an eye opener for me.
Altif secured his placement at PumaI developed new software to manage the logistics of a new warehouse
At Puma, I worked as a software developer at their West Yorkshire office which was attached to the main UK warehouse. My role mainly consisted with bugfixes and adding new features on Puma’s ERP system as well as Puma’s internal website the PumaVillage. These two systems formed part of their key IT infrastructure. One of the biggest projects I worked on was the software needed for Puma’s new warehouse. The new warehouse was semi-automated and used a conveyor system, my task was to help develop software that would communicate with the conveyor system over TCP/IP sockets.
The role required a few different skills with a mix of soft and technical skills. The most important soft skill was being adaptable, the team was quite small so there was a lot to learn and the tasks varied. As well as the technical aspects of the role I also got to experience strong leadership and teamwork from other staff within the department. It was great to be a part of this project as I was able to develop an understanding of the business and logistical sides to Puma’s distribution network. My placement overlapped with the last intern’s placement, so I spent a few months learning from him and working alongside him. We worked together on a project which helped me ease into the role.
Altif presenting his proposal for new software to manage a new Puma warehouse
Prepared for the future
I really enjoyed my time at Puma I have learnt more than I thought I would, and I have gained valuable industry knowledge. I have also had the opportunity to work with technologies and coding languages widely used in industry, which I feel will definitely help me when applying for graduate jobs.
Puma HQAltif studies on the Computing BSc(Hons) to find out more about this course click the link.
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