Jemima Orakwue has landed a job with world-famous Goldman Sachs after transforming her confidence and skills through University of Staffordshire.
She is joining the multinational investment company this summer as an engineering analyst. It comes just weeks after finishing her BSc (Hons) degree in Computer Science.
Jemima beat tough competition to secure the graduate role after building up software engineering experience as a student. This included completing a placement year with digital services and consultancy firm Kainos, followed by a 10-week internship with Goldman Sachs.
The 23-year-old, from Stafford, said: “It’s exciting, but scary. I’m very grateful to get the role. It’s going to involve tasks relating to particular software and I’ll be attending tech events as well. I will be based in Birmingham.”
It’s a career that Jemima never dreamed would be within her reach when she was younger. As a child, she faced challenges with her speech.
“The problem was with actual talking and I would mumble my words,” she said. “Speech therapy helped a bit. But I didn’t enjoy speaking in front of people and would avoid eye contact in a room.
“I’m in a much better place now. University has given me the confidence to grow. The lecturers have also believed in me.”
Through working as a student ambassador, she has developed her communication and leadership skills. Jemima also co-founded the Women in STEM Society at university to help attract more females into science, technology, engineering and maths careers.
She chose University of Staffordshire after being impressed with the computing facilities and the fact her course was accredited by BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT.
“I just wanted to explore everything. I liked the networking and PC labs. There are also no exams as everything is focused on practicals. It’s what you need in industry,” she added.
During her placement year, she worked on cloud technologies, contributed to AI initiatives and proof of concepts, and helped to develop a prototype. Jemima also became a mini-team leader, which was highly unusual for a placement student.
That experience led to the software engineering summer internship with Goldman Sachs last year, which she found through a jobs board. “It was intensive, but the main goal was to see if I could see myself working there. Internships are the biggest way to join the company.”
Jemima also received support through the University’s careers team, who helped her to prepare for interviews, and earned a professional skills badge through our Edge scheme.
She said: “Companies are not looking at grades, they are looking at skills. That’s why I’ve focused on developing my skills. I’ve tried to push myself. My old self didn’t think I would make it this far.”
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