A Chat With: Ethan Brierley at TrueLayer

By Donna Fielder and Sarah Cronk

Every month, we speak to people working in digital in and around Eastbourne. This month, Donna Fielder caught up with Ethan Brierley, a former TechResort attendee who has now secured his first job in digital.

Chalk: So Ethan, I see you did amazingly well at A-level and have recently started a new job. A massive well done to you, especially as it’s not been the easiest of years! How’s the new job going so far?

Ethan: “I’m now five months into my job at a fintech company, TrueLayer, and it’s going well so far. I specialise in facilitating payments for companies. I mainly work remotely, but I’ve already been to visit the London and Milan offices.”

Let’s rewind, when did you first get into programming and what about it appealed to you?

“I started getting into programming before I was 10. My parents had got me an electronics kit as I wanted to invent things. As part of the kit, there was a small section about programming in a language called QuickBASIC; I spent a lot of time using that and adding to it, building text-based adventures. I would print off the code and note down ideas for refactoring. I then went on to learn Python."

Did you feel you had enough support when you were at school and college to get to where you wanted to be?

“I was actually home-educated until my A-levels. My parents were very supportive in what I wanted to do and I had a lot of time to work on the things I enjoyed.

“I went to East Sussex College for my A-levels, where Computer Science was actually my least favourite subject! I wasn’t used to following a curriculum, so doing the qualification was kind of a box-ticking exercise for me.

“I had enough of a network outside of college to have the support in what I was trying to learn and do. That networking started with TechResort. I did a hackathon with them, which inspired me; I had no skill, but I was inspired by all the young people building stuff. I then found and joined programming communities in Brighton and London.

“I regularly attended TechResort teens sessions, where I always had people to talk to about the things I was interested in. I was inspired by my peers too. Then once I had more skills, I was able to help out at TechResort, trying to help others learn. You can learn a lot from trying to teach people. TechResort also helped me to network with people to get freelance work.”

What were the key things that helped you develop your skills?

“I met a guy in Brighton on a weekly basis for mentoring sessions, which really helped, and I also joined the Rust London user group. I got involved with some open source projects, so I was able to contribute to a project and then someone else reviewed my code.

“I also listened to a lot of podcasts and read books to find the information I needed. The support I got was generally down to me seeking it out. Few people my age were actively going out and looking for opportunities.”

Why did you decide against university?

“Originally I did plan to go to university to pursue Electronic Engineering. To understand physics, I thought I needed a degree. But then I decided it wasn’t for me.

“Whilst getting a degree is valuable, getting a job and being successful is more valuable to me. Once you have good work experience, I think the degree becomes less important.”

How did you go about getting some work experience?

“I was very keen on getting some commercial experience during my A-levels. It was hard to balance the time with my studies, but I sent off some CVs and asked for internships - these were initially unsuccessful, but it was a valuable experience as I got some feedback on my CV.

“I found some freelance work through TechResort, but at that point, I found it hard to meet the expectations of the client. It was a good learning experience for me.

“I gradually got more and more involved with Rust London and attended their remote events. At the end of one of the events, someone spoke to me during a speed networking session and he needed some help with a project. This led to a week of paired programming, which was great as I already had a bit of an understanding of what he was working on. I was able to write my first invoice, which was very satisfying.”

In terms of finding work, what was that experience like for you? How easy was it to ‘get in the door’?

“Finding work started off as conversations with friends already in the industry, from Rust London. I developed a plan for myself to get a role by the end of the year - the best role I could get in that time period.

“To do this, I increased my involvement in the rust community. I spoke remotely at Rust Dublin and built up more of a network.”

“Rather than applying for roles, I got recommendations - people looking for engineers were being told to ‘speak to Ethan’. This frames the conversation very differently when they approach you.

“I had three conversations with different companies and had two offers as a result, so it happened quite naturally. I wanted to stay living at home here in Eastbourne, so working remotely was ideal for me.”

Did you look at digital companies in Eastbourne when considering who you would like to work for?

“I have very much specialised in the Rust programming language, and no companies locally are using that. So I had to look further afield.”

Did you have any ‘set criteria’ for the kind of business you wanted to work for?

“I wanted to work somewhere that would maximise my learning for my first job in the industry. I needed something for my CV, where I could use my first job as a replacement for a degree. I needed to feel comfortable with the people I spoke to. I knew some people that worked there and I saw they were doing well in life. I also needed a place where I could make mistakes. I think it’s really important for your first job that you show you can stick with something, and I really enjoy working for TrueLayer.”

Is there anything you think that local digital businesses could do to help support young people like yourself to get into the industry?

“Digital businesses should be involved with the community as much as possible. Places like TechResort are great, as are the meet-ups which help you find routes into the community.

"Businesses should aim to get to a place where they can take on interns, so young people can be ready for work. Be open-minded to people of all backgrounds and create a space where it’s safe to fail.

What advice would you give to anyone who is only just discovering programming and would like to explore it further?

“The best thing I did was to get involved in the community. There are a lot of unknowns, so having that community support is invaluable. I’d advise finding the people that have an abundance mindset who want to get involved in helping you.”

➡ Keep up to date with Ethan on Twitter or visit his website.