Meet Bledar, a Mechanical Engineering graduate

What first sparked your interest in a career in tech or data?

Honestly, tech wasn’t always my first career focus as I was more drawn to finance. I think part of that was because I didn’t have a Computer Science degree, and aside from some experience with MATLAB, I hadn’t really been exposed to much programming.

It felt like a tough field to break into without that background. That said, I’ve always seen technology as an exciting space, especially with how quickly the world is evolving and moving in that direction. So when I came across the Sigma Labs opportunity, it felt like the perfect chance to explore whether this could be a path I’d genuinely want to pursue, which worked out!

How do you feel the training programme helped you prepare for the next step in your career?

To me, that foot through the door was so important, I've always had faith in my ability to do well but I needed that chance to showcase myself as a professional and without a doubt Sigma Labs gave me that chance to really shine.

It also made me realise that one of my weakest areas was interviewing, which in my opinion is crucial to having a successful career. In order to really grow and move to bigger and better opportunities, your ability to interview is so important and I really struggled with it, but it was never addressed until the people at Sigma Labs really drilled it down into me, making me highlight my weaknesses and work on them nonstop, and it's honestly one of the biggest skills I've gained whilst being there and I know it'll take me far when I do want to pursue other opportunities again.

What responsibilities do you currently have in your role right now?

I currently operate at a senior level where I drive the architecture/design and implementation of the frontend for the products/applications that I work on.

What is the best thing about your current role?

My level of responsibility, for someone that has 3 years of experience, I've been able to build up a reputation of being reliable which has led to being given bigger and more challenging pieces of work. This has led to me now having a senior role where I have the opportunity to communicate with senior stakeholders, and this has really pushed both my soft and technical skills very far.