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About

Andrew Tegala, recently graduated from De Montfort University, Leicester after studying BSc Computer Science. The third year was a 12 month placement, spend working successfully as an IT Manager in a professional legal environment. The purpose of this website, is to give another deeper dimension. Going further than the poor, two dimensional portrayal of a candidate, given by paper CV. Originally created in the search for a placement, then it was transformed to document the experiences of an industrial placement. Then reinvented, yet again to document progress on the Final Year Project. It now makes the final incarnation showcasing my achievements and future career aspirations.

A Brief History

My interest in computers began at a rather early age. It was in the early 1990s that I first starting using my friends' PC, playing games and word processing during weekends spent at his house. My major milestone came in June 1992. My dad asked me to decide between a computer and a mountain bike. I chose a computer and that has been once of the most significant decisions of my life. The day will live with me forever, Saturday 6th June 1992 (D-Day) Being only 11 years old and having a vast amount of spare time on my hands. I spent a considering amount of time working on my computer. Over the few years I taught myself, MS-DOS, Windows 3.0, Windows 3.11 and the BASIC programming language. I learnt how to solve problems when software refused to run and general maintenance of a machine. In 1996, some 4 years later I built my second machine with the help of my father's colleague. For the first time I learnt more about the technical aspects of computing and general maintenance. I then extended my software knowledge with Windows 95, then 98. The software packages which I am very familiar with are the Microsoft Office family, particularly Word, Excel and Power Point and Front Page. I have some experience with Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Dreamweaver, Director and Flash. Unfortunately, until my degree here at De Montfort University, I have no 'true written' qualification in Computing. I do not see this as a drawback, I have over 11 years experience with computers. I have seen the transition from a command based operating system, to a fully GUI enabled system.

Joining the WWWeb

Before the big explosion of the internet, I was using CompuServe in 1996 and then AOL in 1997. A year later I made friends with a talented young individual from Leicester, Steven Driver. He was developing a website and wanted some help. I offered to work on an Audio Page for him. This was first attempt at a web page, so I taught myself HTML. The page itself is still up and to this day I still get a number of hits every week. We decided to establish our own internet based web design company. In August 1998, Anti Static Web Design was created. We gained our first customer a year later and things went on from there. But due to educational commitments we were unable to continue to market the firm. However, as we had one customer, we hoped to gain the occasional project now and then. In December 1998, I received mixed news. Steven had gained employment with an American firm, Artists Direct. This was for his personal project related to the digital audio medium, MusicGrab.com I had written the software review for this site, but as it had not been uploaded, I was unable to be in the similar position as Steven. He was approached by several large companies and took the best offer which came from Artists Direct. He wanted to dissolve his half of the partnership and I was considering closing the firm all together. Having already secured the domain, Anti Static Web Design I decided to leave the situation as it was and only deal with projects that I could handle.

In January 1999, I was impressed by the web design skills of Richard Thomas, a fellow student at Henley College. I decided to enter into a new partnership with him. Giving the company new life and direction. Our first object the following month was to secure some domain names and start working on some personal projects which could prove fruitful. After a complete redesign of the Anti Static Web Design homepage and a new slogan, 'See The Light', we were refreshed for more custom.

Unfortunately once again, something got in the way of our plans. Richard, currently at the University of Canterbury studying Theater Studies decided to leave the firm to concentrate on his studies. Faced with once again a difficult predicament, I called on the help of a few friends at University and the company has a new Creative Director, Sibtain Bandali. A very talented individual, he has helped shape our current project, Audio Quality. That is the story so far....but I am sure that there are further chapters to be written....

Placement

With regards to securing a placement, I knew the task that lay before me was vast. The second year of a degree, brings with it a realisation. A consciousness that your results will now affect, your final degree classification. That on its own, is an substantial cause to exert yourself to your studies, I had the shadow of finding a job hanging over me. Our placement office, had it's own agenda with regards to how students should go about finding a suitable job. Personally, I did not agree entirely with their approach, so I decided to go about my search using my own ingenuity. So my plan was it get my CV to as many companies as possible. This however, was not going to take the line of attack, of sending a standard covering letter and bombarding as many firms as I could. I researched every firm I wrote to, got a name of the Human Resources manager, wherever possible and tailored my covering letter to suit each company. I also enclosed an Open Testimonial, along with my resume to provide some substance to my application.

In total, I send out over 100 applications to many firms, from the big blue chip companies like IBM, to small local firms based in my home town. Even with follow up phone calls, and e-mails to these firms, I got nothing, but rejection after rejection. This of course was extremely disheartening. I arranged an appointment with my Placement Tutor, at university, to try and discover what I could be doing wrong. On her review of my application, she came to the conclusion that I was doing all the right things, but I just needed to keep persevering. I had applied to companies personally, but from January 2002, decided to increase the number of applications made through the Placement Office.

First wave of Industrial Placement Applications send out on Monday 12th November 2001.
Second wave sent out Thursday 31st January 2002. Continued to apply for positions as they are advertised with my University's Placement Office. This led to the following interviews.

The Real World Beckons

While most of my peers were concentrating on their finals, I had other ideas. It was impotant to get my CV out there and get a feel for the job market. While, as I have previously stated there has never been the perfect time for looking for a job, the earlier you start the better. Thankfully, having made the contacts during my placement year, I was in a prime position. I knew not only which agencies to avoid, but had named contacts to send my CV to. This was not going to be a case of my CV landing on some anonymous intray. To this end, I had two interviews arranged, as I left Leicester to return home to High Wycombe. My determination had got me past the first hurdle, but would I be able to push it further to that elusive job offer.

My first full day at home was spent organising myself. A new suit, shoes, new tie, new shirts. All in preparation for the first interview (the following Wednesday). For my first interview, however, I made all the rookie mistakes. I underestimated my travel time, got stuck in traffic. My few redeeming efforts, saw me call the receptionist, apologise and give a realistic estimated time of arrival. When I finally found the offices, I made good use of a few minutes to calm myself down and gain some composure. While I was somewhat prepared for the interview, I did not think it went that well. Lack of punctionality, put me ten points down before they even met me. I would find out soon enough.

My second interview was the following day, in London. While this time around I had the calming influence, of meeting up with my agent prior to the afternoon session. You cannot ever underestimate the knowledge these people have, afterall they are the experts. Reassured, I headed to this interview, with still my nerves on edge. This was perhaps the biggest interview of my life, ever. What I feared most was failure, rejection. By the time I got to the reception and sat down to wait, my mindset changed, almost instantly. I had to make the most of this opportunity and headed into the room, confident that I could give a gleaming impression of myself to the two interviewers. Afterwards, I felt this had been my most successfully interview of all time. I had answered each question, given examples from my placement experience and shown an eagerness to learn, to grow both as an employee and individual. Leaving the office, I switched on my phone to find a voice message. I had been offered the job I had been to at the previous day. Wow! I was shocked, but highly unprepared for this. I called up the director and explained my situation. While I was more than pleased to be offered a job, I was holding out for life in the big city.

As fate would play such a crucial part in my job hunt (as it has done throughout my life), I would see my dreams shattered. While I may have been the perfect candidate, I was over qualifed for the legal helpdesk position in London. While many would have fallen into a fit of depression, perhaps taken the job offer in hand, I did not. If I am honest, with the benefit of hindsight, I was never going to take that first job offer. (Just like you never take the first house/flat/car you see!) The whole purpose of the exercise was gaining some valuable interview experience.

As it panned out, another job interview materialised for the following week. My expectations were much lower for this position, as it was contract role, so I knew I would be back on the job trial soon. Although yet again, a prized opportunity to build up some experience with the biggest (debatable) law firm in the world. The first interview was textbook, but would I be lucky enough to be invited back for a second?