Mark Pastuszka – MSc Computer Science, 2018

Mark studied BSc (Hons) Computer Science, graduating in 2016 and returned to Lincoln to study a postgraduate degree, MSc Computer Science, which he achieved in 2018. He now works as a Software Engineer at ENSEK.

Falling in love with Lincoln, it’s facilities and academic staff, Mark went from never having written a single line of code to over the course of his undergraduate and postgraduate study gained the skills to now work on products and developments that could be used by millions of clients.

When asked what his favourite thing about the University of Lincoln was, Mark said ‘The academics -the support they provided where needed combined with the engaging lectures really made the difference, I felt like I understood the topics better.’

‘I really enjoy working on products and features that I know will make a difference, however small, to our users.’

Mark said his greatest achievement since graduating was ‘In a previous role just after leaving university, working on a safeguarding solution for schools, hearing stories from customers that due to flags raised by our software, we had intercepted potential suicide attempts and in one case had children removed from a dangerous situation and placed into care.’

Mark’s top tips for current students and alumni are:

‘Ensure your LinkedIn profile is up to date and really sell yourself on it. Every job I’ve had since leaving university has been as a result of initial contact through LinkedIn, it’s an incredibly powerful tool and is also great for hearing about events.

Find the tech scene in whichever town or city you move to after university. For instance, in my city there is a large tech community and there are several tech talks or workshops a month which are great for learning new skills and networking’