Graduating with optimism
5 years ago, my biggest professional worry was a snapped timing belt on a 2008 Ford Fiesta. My hands were permanently stained with oil, my knuckles were perpetually bruised, and my diagnostic tool was a long screwdriver pressed against my ear. A problem was tangible, you could hit it with a hammer.
Fast forward to July 2025, there I was, convinced I was a digital demigod, clutching a First Class Honours degree in Computer Science from the University of Chichester. I had conquered Python, finally made peace with JavaScript, and even wrote a dissertation on "Real Time Object Detection for a Blind and Visually Impaired Warning System". I had a solid internship under my belt leading a project, learning Elixir and Phoenix and developing a full stack application that went into production. I was brimming with the kind of naive optimism usually reserved for people in holiday adverts. I thought I would be fighting off recruiters with a stick.
Wow. What an idiot.
The crushing reality
I am now nearly 150 job applications deep into what I can only describe as a character-building exercise in extreme rejection. My CV has been uploaded in so many different places I am expecting to get an invoice from the internet for bandwidth usage. I've become a connoisseur of automated "Unfortunately..." rejection emails.
The irony has not gone unnoticed. I used to be able to diagnose a misfiring engine from the sound it made 20m away. Now I can't even diagnose why my application gets ghosted by an algorithm before a human even sees it.
Here's hoping
But here's the thing about spending years fixing broken things, you don't give up. You just pick a different tool. The frustration is real, but the determination that got me through a complex degree after a career on the garage floor is even more real. I don't just write code, I solve problems. I come from a world where if something doesn't work, you don't just throw the towel in, you get your hands dirty and figure it out.
My degree gave me the theory, my internship gave me the process, and my time as a mechanic gave me the practical problem solving skills you can't teach in a lecture hall.
So, if you are a hiring manager, a recruiter, or just someone who has scrolled past the 1000th identical CV and are looking for someone with a genuine passion for building things that work. Then Let's talk!
As always have a lovely day 😊.