Alfa Financial Software Limited 2021 graduate opportunities

• Name: Adam Morrison
• Role: Consultant
• Joined: October 2016

"... the social side of the business: we really are very well looked after!..."

Description:

One of my friends had joined the graduate programme and told me all about how Alfa could be a really rewarding place to work. Like many graduates who join Alfa I had no technical experience before I arrived, but the induction training was incredibly thorough and supportive. Within only six weeks, I was already out working at a client’s offices!

My roles have been with some of Alfa’s longest-held clients, and this has offered an enormous range of problem-solving opportunities. Working so closely with the clients themselves has brought the opportunity to learn about the full breadth of requirements they have, meaning no two weeks are ever alike. It’s not possible to talk about my experience with Alfa without discussing the social side of the business: we really are very well looked after!

• Name: Irfan Raza
• Role: Solution Engineer
• Degree: MEng and PhD in Aeronautical Engineering

"Having spent my academic life in a highly specialised engineering field, it came as a shock to some that I had a desire to switch to career paths. After my PhD, I evaluated what I wanted to get from a future career and there were several factors that were important to me:

- A challenging job that would allow me to utilise my problem solving skills, and allow me to continue learning
- Working with highly talented colleagues and variety of clients
- An employer that recognises the importance of culture and social impact
- Working with the latest technologies
- Good career prospects with respect to opportunity and financial reward

I heard about Alfa at a careers fair at Imperial College London. I had the ability to speak to individuals who explained to me the daily life at Alfa, and the type of work that I could get involved with. It got me interested in the asset finance sector, which has a huge impact on the lives of many hundreds of thousands of people. What particularly attracted me to Alfa was their approach of taking on bright people, and giving them the training they need whilst on the job. There was no expectation that I learnt to code myself. There is a 6 week boot camp for all new joiners during which they learn about coding in Java, and the software that Alfa creates. Importantly, the support doesn’t cease at the end of the boot camp, there is a real sense of “a problem shared is a problem halved”, which is a great attitude for a company to have.

I have been at Alfa for over 3 years now and I can honestly say it has delivered on everything I was looking for in my career. I do feel challenged in my role, and there is always something new to learn about. I have had the opportunity to work with brilliant colleagues and clients as far away as the Nordics, and Africa. What has particularly stood out to me more recently, is how well we have adapted to working remotely. The company has become a lot more embracing of working from home lifestyles, but more importantly, there are still many who can’t wait for the office to reopen and for us to continue our strong working culture in person."

• Name: Rosie Carroll
• Role: Junior Software Engineer
• Degree: Geology

"Before starting Alfa I studied Geology, completed an internship at a FinTech start up and the first year of another graduate scheme. However, I was finding it difficult to find a position where I could improve my coding skills as I did not have a technical background. Alfa hired me for my potential as well as my previous experience in different fields. This has allowed me to undergo training to become a professional software developer. All while being supported and paid throughout. Allowing me to utilise my problem solving skills which I developed in my Geology degree. The interview process at Alfa was refreshing. It was very quick and personable.

I bonded well with my cohort and would meet up after work which we still do even on Zoom. I was happy to realise that everyone came from a variety of backgrounds and were not all fresh graduates. We had 10 weeks training in Java and asset finance, with the last 6 weeks writing production code. As a junior software developer my work is varied from writing code which creates new products for the client and internal improvements. I like that it is a mid-size company as I am able to build a reputation and create opportunities for myself. I have been able to write external blogs, give technical talks, demos to the client and organise volunteering at a local charity – Code Your Future. I am able to use my interpersonal skills every day while still being a developer. I am happy at my job, learn something new every day, have made great friends and I receive good benefits as well."

• Name: Doyinsola Ishola
• Role: Consultant
• Degree: Electronic Engineering & Engineering with Business

"I studied Electronic Engineering in University College Dublin and followed that with an MEng in Engineering with Business. As an electronic engineering graduate, it felt natural to start out in a semi-conductor company, but a little after a year, it became apparent that it wasn’t quite for me.

I realised that I wanted an environment where I would have real client exposure but would also be exposed to exciting technology. Alfa provided such an environment – challenging but with supportive structures. The graduate programme starts you off with an intense initiation where you are immersed in the functional world of Alfa and trained in Java development.

My first role in Alfa was mostly technical and afforded me the opportunity to research and scope out new and exciting technologies that could be beneficial to Alfa and our clients. The role that followed was mostly client facing where I continued to develop my problem solving and analysis skills. It also gave me first-hand experience with managing client relationships.

An important realisation I made prior to joining Alfa was that enjoying where I work and the day to day interactions with colleagues is an important aspect of working life for me.

Making these realisations really helped to narrow down my list of prospective companies. In my search, Alfa stood out to me because, in addition to ticking all the career development boxes, it was so very clear that I was going to get on with my colleagues. From first contact with the administration team, to HR and the directors during interviews, you could tell that Alfa valued inclusivity. The drive to foster an inclusive and diverse environment has continued to grow and is backed at every level. Today I co-chair the Alfa for Racial Equity community which is just one of the many inclusion initiatives we have at Alfa.

Apart from enjoying my work, the people I’ve met at Alfa really have been instrumental to settling into life in London. It’s great getting to work with so many intelligent and personable people."

• Name: Manchal Kumar
• Role: Junior Software Engineer

"I graduated from King's College London with a Masters in Pharmacy and then went on to pursue a Masters in Management at Imperial College Business School. When looking for career opportunities, I had little idea of what industry I wanted to work in but one thing I was sure about was that I needed a good company culture. I had done some basic coding during my second masters and liked the challenge so when I came across Alfa I was really happy with the combination of technology, finance and culture on offer.

My intake consisted of graduates from varying disciplines but the training structure catered to all our technical abilities and we were all well supported. The extensive training started off with four weeks of an introduction to asset finance and the technologies used within Alfa. This followed with six weeks of development initiation where we were able to apply our new skills under close supervision. It was the perfect environment for us to work on real Alfa issues, make mistakes and learn from them. Development initiation is what strengthened my decision to join product engineering as a software engineer. Even though there was a steep learning curve, I enjoyed coding and the open culture within Alfa meant that I never hesitated to seek help and support from people at all levels in the company.

After just over a year on product engineering, I decided I wanted to try out a client project. The transition was smooth, I raised my desire with my manager and a few weeks later an opportunity became available. In this role, I deal with new challenges every day and work closely with client senior staff to ensure the Alfa product fits in with their needs. I have had the opportunity to build a completely new set of skills, helping me appreciate both engineering and project teams.

The people and culture at Alfa are fantastic. The hackathons, innovations days and quarterly meetings are a great way to stay connected and inspire ideas and the company has pulled through in keeping this culture alive even during a global pandemic. We really are well looked after."