Jean-Pascal Evette took part in the Professional Pathway (PP) scheme at City, University of London. He now works as a Lead Gameplay Programmer at Asobo Studio.
What made you decide to join the Professional Pathway scheme?
Joining the Professional Pathway scheme was a no-brainer for me; while I value greatly what could be learned at University, I ultimately believe that many of the soft skills needed in order to be successful in industry are best learned while working on real-life projects which go beyond the scope of University and will affect other people.
This meant PP would allow me to both get the necessary education to fulfil my goals, but also to get a step ahead and learn some of the soft skills and experiences that I would otherwise have had to learn after leaving University.
What roles did you do whilst on the Professional Pathway scheme?
While on PP I worked at the London Borough of Hackney’s ICT team. I had different tasks which included creating and updating applications to be used by other people working for the council, and maintaining and updating websites for the council.
How did the scheme help you find work on graduation?
When I graduated from City, I was offered the chance to stay at the position I was working on at Hackney ICT. The team already knew me and was confident that I could fulfil the work required, which made it an easy decision for them.
In the end I decided to go for further education and work on a master's degree at Goldsmiths University.
Describe your career journey since graduation.
After graduating from City, I decided to go for a Master of Science at Goldsmiths University, which gave me the opportunity to take part in the “Search for a Star” games programming competition. I ended up finishing second in that competition, which resulted in me getting two offers for jobs in the Video Games industry (Sumo Digital and Asobo Studio).
I ended up joining Asobo Studio, where I worked on multiple games and eventually ended up becoming a Lead Gameplay Programmer working on the Microsoft Flight Simulator license.
Are there any lessons you want to share with current Professional Pathway applicants?
I think it’s important for any student joining PP to do so while being aware of what they are trading off; PP is a demanding option which will take more effort than the normal cursus; it takes a lot of time and work to handle both your sides of your weeks.
Ultimately, I think my final University grade would have been higher had I decided not to go for PP, however I would have missed much of the experiences and lessons that I got while learning at Hackney, which is easily worth it in my eyes.
Any final message about the Professional Pathway scheme?
Joining the PP scheme has been a great decision which allowed me to learn important skills which came in handy later in life. Getting a chance to earn some money during my studies was nice too!
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