Leah Spencer

Digital Forensics BSc (Hons)

Leah always had a passion for computing growing up and is continuing to follow that passion as she prepares to graduate. After a  successful placement year at Boohoo, Leah has already returned to the leading fashion retailer for graduate role as a Java Developer.

“I knew I wanted to go to university and study a computing based subject but wasn’t sure what specifically. When I started looking into forensics and computing, there weren’t many universities that offered it, but BCU did and it really stood out to me.

I’d always been interested in the security side of computing. The course at BCU offered this, as well as the opportunity to learn about cyber-attacks, so I just knew it was the course for me.

I did my placement year at Boohoo as an IT Intern and as the end of my final university year approached, they offered me a graduate position as a Java Developer. I had a chat with the management there, as they know about my interest in the security side of the industry, and they told me that I will have the opportunity to progress more in security whilst I work as a Java Developer.

I was offered the job over six months before graduating, and I started the role part-time while I completed my studies. Now I’m working there full-time and it’s going really well so far. I’m looking forward to getting more involved in the security side of the business soon.

As I did my placement year at Boohoo, it’s really nice to be getting back into the swing of things at the company. I’m already being given more challenging tasks and there’s loads of support from my colleagues and fellow developers too. As a graduate, it’s really helpful to learn from others around me.

Getting a first class degree has made me so proud of my time at BCU. In my second year, I didn’t do as well as what I’d hoped and I was distracted, so I knew for my final year that I was going to have to push and work really hard, so I’m so pleased to be graduating with such a good final grade.

Doing a placement year really helped to prepare for me the world of work after university, but I also received a lot of guidance from my lecturers on how to secure post-graduate roles and they offered us so many opportunities too. Just being able to email my lecturers was so helpful and having that communication was key.

In the long term, I’d love to progress in the security side of the industry and look into digital forensics, so I’m really pleased that I’m able to start doing that while I’m in my current role at Boohoo. For now, I’d love to progress and work my way up in my current company.

My advice to current students would be to plan ahead with all assignments, especially with large projects like dissertations, start working on them as soon as you can. If you leave pieces of work too late, actually doing them can seem really daunting, so focus on your assignments and exams. Work hard and try as best as you can.

If it wasn’t for BCU, I wouldn’t have been able to progress to where I am now, the grade that I achieved and the job that I’m now in.”