Uptree

Andrico is an Uptree Alumni, currently doing a Software Engineering Degree Apprentice at Goldman Sachs . Here he shares his views on how it's important to think about your motivation, direction and enjoyment when choosing your career path.

Andrico's story

I’ve always been a big believer in how technology can make the world a better place. Growing up, this was a huge influence on me and I always knew that I would find myself working in this industry one day. But how can you choose a career if you haven’t found ‘your thing’ just yet?

Having just finished Year 13, I found myself in a really lucky place as a school leaver. — I interviewed for degree-apprenticeships or similar roles with the likes of Microsoft, Apple, Goldman Sachs and Expedia; I was ultimately successful and secured a place with Goldman Sachs.

Having moved to the UK 2 years ago without even having GCSE’s, I often get asked how I’ve done so well and my answer is always the same. Live to experience motivation, direction and enjoyment in your everyday life.

Motivation

Ever since a young age I knew that technology interested me, so it was easy to stay motivated by researching the newest trends and generally keeping on top of things tech. related. In my case, the dream of working for a high profile tech. company has been a massive motivation for me to do well, academically and also outside of school.

I like to think of significant changes in my life as stepping stones and would advise others to work out what their own stepping stones are. For example is it to finish your A-levels to get onto a great degree-apprenticeship? Or maybe it’s to do exceptionally well on your BTEC and get a place at university. Whatever it is, think about how this fits into the bigger picture / long term. Ask yourself: ‘Is this the best route to get where I need to be?’ and consider how you can do something every day that helps work towards this.

Direction

Life is only as good as your mindset. The way you feel about what you’re doing and why it motivates you is something that only you will ever understand. We live in a world that expects you to get things right the first time or within a specific timeframe. This isn’t necessarily relevant if you are motivated by what you’re doing to reach your long-term goal.

Life is not a race, we all share the same journey. This is how direction directly links to motivation. You need one to have the other. How can you find what direction you’d like to go into? The simple answer is to try different things and say yes to things you normally wouldn’t do. Sometimes it can be useful to ask for feedback. What do people always say you’re good at? Is it something that you enjoy doing? That’s a good sign that you will stay motivated to do well while finding what it is that makes you tick.

Enjoyment

Steve Jobs once said: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” — The key takeaway from this is that you need to enjoy what you’re doing. For some people it’s writing code that thousands of people will use and for other’s it might be performing on a stage and bringing smiles to people’s faces. For a career to be truly meaningful in life you should ask yourself if you’re going to enjoy doing this every day.

Overall you may have noticed that all three of the above concepts are very abstract, open to interpretation and of course rely on each other to work. The next time you’re thinking about what to do with your life ask yourself if you can experience motivation, direction and enjoyment by doing it.

I will conclude with a final thought: ‘We have more in common with each other than we can ever imagine. It’s such a small world, take the opportunity to see it. Don’t leave things to the last minute. Fate will only do half of the work. Live to experience motivation, direction and enjoyment.’.