Uptree

Uptree student Emily was selected from over 60 excellent applications to attend a highly competitive work experience day with Arm , the global tech company based in Cambridge.

For Emily, meeting Arm professionals and hearing their pathway stories changed her perception on what a career in technology might look like.

Here Emily shares her thoughts on the event with us and some key advice if you're also interested in STEM careers.

How did you prepare for the event?

Before the event, I didn’t know much about Arm at all; I only knew about them because of the work experience opportunity. I decided to research into the company a little more - I didn’t know that we use their designed products (chips and processors in phones, laptops etc) every day!

I looked into the types of jobs they had at Arm, such as software engineers, roles in marketing, project managers, and developers - just to name a few.

How did you find the event?

I found the event really interactive; we were constantly taking part in polls, being encouraged to ask questions and contribute our thoughts throughout the whole of the work experience.

We started programming a game on a micro:bit with the help of some of the software engineers - this was probably one of my favourite activities of the day!

During the virtual work experience with Arm

Although Arm is well known for designing microchips, I was surprised that they didn’t actually make them themselves. Also, I didn’t know the company had such a good working culture; everyone supports each other - and you don’t need to come in a suit to work!

I was interested in how open the whole workplace is and how questions are always encouraged.

Louise from Arm really stood out to me: she was completely honest about herself as a person and her journey into the industry - from maths to a software engineer at Arm.

She explained how she always has loads of questions to ask and loves learning new things, and that’s especially why she loves it at Arm.

Her colleagues are always there to help her out or answer her questions, also, there are lots of training opportunities she can get involved in to improve her skills and knowledge.

Do you have any advice for other students?

If you are interested in engineering or the tech industry, I definitely encourage you to take part in an Arm work experience.

I took part to learn more about the digital/software side of engineering -as I still am unsure which type of engineering to go for - and I am happy I did!

Other than that, I highly recommend you do as much work experience, extracurricular activities and research as possible, and never be afraid to ask questions!