Temmy is taking a year out of his university career at Kent to work on an industrial placement at Citrix, a global leader in digital workspace transformation. His role has allowed him to simultaneously develop his business acumen and soft skills, through presenting to clients, while growing his technical knowledge of computer systems and the IT industry. At the start of his placement Temmy was invited out to a training camp in Poland for 2 weeks. The training event consisted of several induction talks and group exercises designed to prepare the new hires for their roles at Citrix as well as to give them a clear understanding of what the company does, its current roadmap and how they as individual employees fit into the larger picture.
As a systems engineer Temmy’s job offers him a variety of work. In addition to getting to grips with the technology that Citrix is producing and how it can be utilised to solve a specific customer’s problem, Temmy is also given the opportunity to carry out presentations and demonstrations to different Citrix clients. He researches and prepares for these important client meetings so that when arriving he can adeptly demonstrate all the relevant Citrix products which could help transform and streamline these businesses. Citrix have developed a huge variety of products and services, ranging from networking processes to applications, that can revolutionise how businesses operate. It is these that Temmy demonstrates to clients.
The application process to Citrix’s placement was not easy according to Temmy. He initially saw the posting on Bright Network and had to submit his CV and the answers to a few competency questions to us. Upon passing the first stage of the application he was then invited to a telephone interview run by a Bright Network employee. The interview consisted of a variety of questions ranging from technical to motivation and competency based. Progressing through this saw Temmy be invited to an assessment centre at Citrix. The assessment centre itself consisted of an individual presentation, a group exercise and a panel interview. Our Bright Network alumnus was over the moon to have been offered the job although he did admit to being a little surprised!
Three top application tips from Temmy:
- Be yourself during the application process, don’t try to come across as something you’re not. Allow yourself to be confident in who you are as an individual and in what you can do.
- Show you’re willing to work with everyone. You can do this really easily at the assessment centre in particular just by talking to everyone and being friendly to all.
- Take time to make your CV look professional. It is important and should be treated as so!
Temmy is thoroughly enjoying his role at Citrix and is particularly enjoying the opportunity to speak to clients and run demonstrations with them. He says that the company culture is fantastically collaborative with everyone on hand to help no matter what the task and the team as a whole always working hard to achieve company goals. He is due to return to the University of Kent to complete his Business Information Systems degree in September 2019.
