INSPIRING INTERNS
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Turing Talent’s New Blog Post Series
Turing Talent’s goal is to develop technical talent in a well-rounded set of skills to perform at their best in industry environments. We do that by combining training designed by industry veterans, mentorship from industry leaders, and a cross-industry peer network. Briefly, we surround our talents with only people who are going to lift them higher.
Learning from one another is what makes us grow better and stronger. That’s why, in the Turing Talent’s inspiring interns blog post series, we recognize new faces in tech and have their inspirational stories in order to encourage all talents. So, this week we are having another of Turing Talent’s inspiring interns, Raffaele who is an experimental physicist with a background in nuclear engineering. He will be inspiring us by taking us through his exciting journey in tech.
Hello Raffaele and thank you for agreeing to this interview. Let’s start with your background, could you tell me about your background, please?
I studied engineering master’s degree in Milan, the technical including engineering, then added a PhD in Physics at UCL. Following that, I worked for a few years at the University of Birmingham as a research fellow in quantum technology which is basically applied physics. However, then I decided to change my career. That’s why I’ve been looking for opportunities in data science or in engineering.
Wow, nice decision! Did you have any previous experience before starting the Turing Talent leadership program?
I didn’t have professional experience in data science or anything tech-related. My experience was in other kinds of jobs.
How did you find out about this program of Turing Talent?
I saw it on LinkedIn, from LinkedIn jobs.
What were your expectations from this leadership program?
I wasn’t sure because I had a chat with your representatives after that I got an idea of how it goes. It was about pairing and getting some perspective as well as knowledge on a sector. However, I wasn’t sure what to expect on the technical side. In fact, you know that depending on what you do, you might find more or less technical expertise where I did learn a lot about the area I’m working on. And also, there were some meetings or events and a couple of seminars, which I didn’t know about. So, that was a nice surprise because they were both useful and nice.
That’s great to hear! What projects did you build/work on during your internship?
I’ve been working on a research project concerning fundraising data mostly in private like venture capital and researching how it is allocated. If there are factors in the applicants that can influence social background and not just ethnicity and gender, it is the outcome of over portrayal.
Which technologies did you use?
I’ve been using mostly Python and some database languages such as SQL MySQL.
What qualities did you gain during the leadership program?
I had to do a lot of the technical part which is something that I’m not a stranger to because that’s something we do while working in research. It was good to learn numerous things such as data, databases, and data pipelines. Moreover, I learned about the fundraising and independent financial capital market and some staggering statistics and facts about how money is distributed.
How did the leadership program contribute to your long-term career goals?
I’m in talks now with the company with, hopefully, I’ll be staying on. And that was what we were talking about. If that was the case that basically program has contributed substantially to getting started.
What do you say to people considering joining the leadership program of Turing Talent?
I recommend it because everyone I’ve been talking to is very nice and very helpful. There is no catch. It’s very simple and fun! Finding a company which is worthy and good from a social point of view can be a good choice. Also, you can find someone who has a very good idea! It can have a very good impact on you.
Thank you, Raffaele, for your truly inspiring journey in tech.
