A presentation by Sean O’Mahoney for Salford City College

1. University Recommendations &
GitHub – Getting the most out of
Uni as a Computing Student
A presentation by Sean O’Mahoney for Salford City College

2. Contents
 Who am I?
 Activities (iDEA, Science and Engineering Extra-Curricular
Award, Futures Skills Award, etc)
 Societies / Students Union (SU)
 Networking
 Projects
 Hackathons
 GitHub
 Blogging
 Imposter Syndrome
 General Advice

3. Who Am I?
 Pendleton College - BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in IT Software Development (QCF): D*D*D*
 Manchester Metropolitan University – Computer Science: Expected First Class Honours Degree
 Roles: Societies Council Academic Rep, Computing Society Head, Photography Society Head,
Peer Mentor, 2nd Year Computer Science Rep, Workshop Lead, Digital Content Ambassador
 Workshops/Talks Ran: 20 (Web Stuff, JavaScript, GitHub, Photoshop, Photography)
 Meetups Attended: 200+
 Hackathons Attended: 9
 GitHub Repos: 40+ Public, 40+ Private (including NDA & University Projects)
 Lover of Web Development & Music (JavaScript & Panic at the Disco)

4. Village Data Quest
Manchester Web Meetup
Homeless Hack (Winners)
Student Hack VI (2nd Place)
Panic at the Disco After-party
OTB Hackathon
Storytellers Unite
BCS Hackathon (2nd Place)
Future Artists VR Lab 2

5. Activities
 iDEA
 Science and Engineering Extra-Curricular
Award
 Futures Skills Award
 Etc
Pick up useful skills, make new friends and
boost your CV

6. The Union / Societies
 Student Voice, raise any concerns and get help
 Academic Societies: Computing / Hello Hackers / Ethical Hacking
 Other Societies: Rock / Nerds / Gaming / Pole / Table Top … (90+)

7. Networking
 http://mcrmeetup.tech/
 Great to find new technologies
 Can help solve technical issues
 Embed into the tech community
 Meet your potential employer
 Grow your LinkedIn Network
 Usually serve free refreshments

8. Projects
 Learn either from University or in your own time
 Apply that learning by setting yourself a goal/challenge
 Make that challenge slightly difficult for yourself (requiring more learning over time)
 Complete the challenge/project and document it, put it on GitHub and your CV
 Repeat the cycle, learning more and building your portfolio
 Advice on: http://mmucompsoc.com/

9. Hackathons
 https://mlh.io/
 “A hackathon is any event of any
duration where people come
together to solve problems.”
 Insight to common practice
 Learning
 CV Building
 Swag

10. GitHub
 Repos = Project Folders
 Version Tracking (go back in time)
 Collaboration at Scale (no USBs)
 Unit Tests (Testing Projects for Errors)
 CI/CD (Continues Integration / Deployment, update your code, updates servers)
 GitHub Pages, quickly deploy websites (put them online without FTP)

11. Blogging
 For Projects/Blog/Conferences/Talks
 Sets you apart from the competition
 Proves your experience to employers

12. Imposter Syndrome
“The imposter syndrome is a psychological term referring to a pattern of behavior where people
doubt their accomplishments and have a persistent, often internalized fear of being exposed as a
fraud” - Megan Dalla-Camina

13. General Advice
 Do the Maths module/unit, it WILL help you in first year on a Computing related course
 Give back, volunteers/mentor
 Jobs4Students is a decent way to earn a little extra money through University
 Don’t be embarrassed to ask a stupid question
 Have fun

14. Any Questions?