GCHQ Personal Profiles

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Darren - Graduate Technologist

"From the start I was working on stuff that really interested me".

I was recruited as a mainstream Technologist in '96. I had a chance to look around some of the project areas and choose where I wanted to work. Of course, they were also deciding if they wanted me to work there too! Luckily, they did, so from the start I was working in applied research on things that really interested me.

First, I was designing hardware and looking for a way to reconfigure things easily, without having to reprogram chips. I've heard people describe hardware design as a bit of a black art, but was never really sure myself. However when the solution to one particular problem came to me like a flash of inspiration in the middle of the night, you have to wonder!

Now I'm on the Graduate Technologist scheme where I am researching ways of using hardware to process data very efficiently. It is just as valid to try something that doesn't work as something that does, especially when technology is moving as fast as it is at the moment.

People like working here! Geographically, you're perfectly placed, within an hour of Oxford and Bath - and less than 2 hours from London, Birmingham and Manchester. Then there's the Cotswold countryside, less than 10 minutes away!

The starting salary was pretty good and because rises are performance based, it is up to you how fast you progress. The atmosphere in my office is great and the conditions are good. It's not the sort of place where you have trouble getting the training you need. I've not been refused a training course yet. Also, on the GT scheme, I can move around the department, working in other areas if I feel I would benefit. I can get a real feel for what other people get up to! The flexi-time is great too and I can even turn extra hours into more holiday if I want. You'd be surprised how useful that can be!

Finally, there are the placements...

Not just in other areas of this department, but people have also gone to the Foreign Office, Downing Street and the Home Office. There are international conferences, visits to other agencies and even industrial placements for people on the GT and GTPM schemes. Don't people get poached? You might think so, but most people like this place too much to go!