News
Paul Brown
02.08.2019
FDM academies recruit candidates year-round from different backgrounds and launch their careers in business or technology. We spoke to Ross Cairns, a graduate from the University of the West of Scotland with a degree in Music Technology, who has been interested in technology from a young age and believed that technology would be the future. Ross is currently training in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), intending to grow and excel in a tech career.
I was originally interested in a Software Developer role as I have previous experience from university. However, during my FDM interview, I received positive comments regarding the RPA programme and was told that I would be a good fit for the role due to my experience and skills.
During my first week of training, I was still unsure of the route I wanted to take. Therefore, I decided to speak to a member of staff at the Glasgow Academy. I soon realised that RPA was different to how I had imagined, allowing me to understand that the “robots” were all software-based and I thought it would be an exciting area to learn more about.
I decided to apply to FDM because I want to grow and learn and I saw that there was the opportunity to do so here. Being in a highly competitive market, I wanted a company that would allow me to grow and not hold me back – a company that looks towards the future. I’m grateful that FDM has given me this opportunity because not only am I on a structured path to learning, but I’m also able to learn more outside of RPA.
I think RPA is an interesting and exciting area of technology that will soon expand. I want to be at the forefront of this development and be ahead of the competition. I believe there are many areas within RPA to explore, and I haven’t found the niche that I would like to get into yet. Nevertheless, any opportunity is one that will allow me to grow. That being said, if I could take my audio skills and combine them with RPA/Development, then that would be an exciting endeavour.
From the courses that I have taken, I really enjoyed learning about Python and HTML. These are computing languages that I genuinely want to learn more about and want to work on outside of the workplace. I never experienced Python before working at FDM and I am grateful that I was introduced to it. On the other hand, I found the Business Analysis (BA) course more difficult because I did not have any previous business experience. However, I managed to overcome by working with peers who were also in similar circumstances. With all our different strengths and weaknesses, we worked as a team to help each other, which also enabled us to learn from each other.
I think a career in RPA can deliver innovation – automation happens in everyday life and this field can deliver many benefits. Additionally, a career in RPA does not mean being stuck behind a computer screen all day, but instead, one can gain many transferable skills and can also choose from several pathways.
I recommend the RPA programme to anyone that is interested because even if you do not have previous experience, FDM will provide you with the required skillset for it. Within the six weeks that I have been here, I have learnt more than in the past two years. A piece of advice that I would like to pass on is to be yourself. I have met people from all different backgrounds and skillsets. Despite sometimes feeling inadequate next to my peers, the working environment here is great – we help each other to achieve our goals and we push each other forward.
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