- June 22, 2022
- AI Education
With his baccalaureate in hand, Louis embarked on a five-year course at Epitech Nice, a private school specializing in IT.
What is your background?
I did a science baccalaureate with the Computer Science and Digital Sciences option. I already wanted to turn to new technologies so I applied to Epitech. To enter this paying school, you have to pass an English test because you will have to work abroad. Next, the team logic test. It brings us to reason together. It is important for the future. In the first year, we immediately have a lot of practice. We learn the low-level C language. It is the computer language closest to the machine, but it remains understandable by a human. Then, I did a 4-month internship in an automobile expertise company in the Paris region. I managed the database, that is to say, I took care of the proper functioning of the information storage, connected with the company’s devices.
Why did you choose this profession?
As a child, I had fun solving all sorts of puzzles. Answering problems, solving puzzles, and spending time concentrating on finding the best solution: I love it! In fact, I am not manual but downright cerebral.
Coding takes a lot of time, but it saves a lot more.
With the code, it’s the same. A client asks me a problem and I have to respond to his need. It may be the development of software to manage accounts, the programming of a computer system for the company, or simply the creation of a website.
In fact, coding takes a lot of time, but it saves a lot more. Code is the mix of symbols and letters that allow us to create functions that automatically perform actions within a program. It allows the system to work more efficiently and it relieves the man.
Code is the mix of symbols and letters that allow us to create functions that automatically perform actions within a program. (Photo Dylan Meiffret).
What qualities are needed to get there?
You have to be independent. Programming is a very hermetic language. Within a company, if there is no specialized team, I am alone with the computer problem. So I have to manage without anyone’s help. There are moments of loneliness when it’s difficult, but it empowers me.
Tomorrow will be made of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, so we must keep abreast of innovations
Curiosity is also key. In ten years, what exists now and what we are taught will have changed a lot. New technologies are multiplying, everything is accelerating. Tomorrow will be made of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, so you have to be curious, flexible and keep up to date with all the news that is already shaping the world of tomorrow.
Finally, you have to be patient. You can spend an afternoon making a website and spend months or even whole years on large projects such as operating systems, video games, or embedded electronics in rockets.
The encountered difficulties?
The first months are very complicated. We call it the swimming pool because we are drowned in work and we have to learn to swim. And also because the air is humid due to stress and concentration…
So I had to adapt my mind to a language, a very particular logic. A computer is binary: 1 or 0. So you have to learn to read the code, a bit like hieroglyphs.
It requires spending hours and hours on a problem, in front of a screen, being close to the solution without managing to solve everything. It’s complex and mentally taxing, you have to keep calm and persevere.
After a BAC + 5 training, the diploma of computer expert and new technologies generally opens on permanent contracts of CSP + (Photo Dylan Meiffret).
The good surprises
“There is this prejudice of the nerd, of the associable geek in front of his screen. Obviously, this is false. We are united: we prefer to pause our own project to help each other and solve problems.”
When we leave school, 97% of us are taken on permanent contracts at very comfortable salaries.
The salary is also a good surprise. We are very lucky because when we leave school, 97% of us are taken on permanent contracts at very comfortable salaries from the start of our careers.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Already, I finish school which is done in five years. Currently, I am looking for a company for a part-time work contract for six months. Then I will have to find a new internship. For the third year, I will have to go abroad.
As a general rule, after all that, it’s a permanent contract in one of the internship companies. The school is paying, 9000 euros per year. The priority will therefore be to repay the student loan. Then I’ll let you know. Why not start my own business?
Do you want to become a computer scientist?
There are many trainings post-baccalaureate, ranging from Bac+1 to Bac+5, to train for IT professions on a national scale.
In the Alpes Maritimes, the Côte d’Azur University offers training within the IUT, IUT Informatique Nice-Côte d’Azur, school 42, My digital school, Epitech Nice.
