alex latchford

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Alex Latchford

Address: 225 Jersey Road, Isleworth, Middlesex, TW7 4RE

Phone: Available on request.

Email: Available on request.

Driving License: Full, Clean UK License.

Profile

I am an enthusiastic and self-motivated individual, actively seeking a computing internship. I have excellent team-working, problem solving and communication skills, thus I am equally happy working in a group situation or using my own initiative. I am experienced with Linux and web based applications, but I also enjoy new and challenging subjects.

Education and Qualifications

University: October 2007 - Present: Nottingham Trent, BSc Computer Science. Modules studied include:
Year 2: Operating Systems Software, Applied Mathematics & Graphics, Professional Issues, Further C++ Programming, Information & Database Engineering and Software Engineering. Overall mark was 76% (First).
Year 1: Fundamentals of Computing, System Analysis & Design, Mathematics for Computing, Personal & Professional Development and Introduction to C++ Programming. Overall mark was 85% (First).
A-Levels: Computer Science C, Physics D, Maths (AS C) and Photography (AS B).
GCSE's: 11, including an A in Maths and Triple Award Science grades.

Employment History

Junior Developer (Intern) - (Jun 2009 - Present). Investment Bank. Working as part of a small, distributed development team primarily focussing on UNIX batch processing. I have also participating in a series of managed projects incorporating C#, .NET and Sybase/Oracle. Being a global team I quickly learnt to work to timezones, to prioritise for key handovers and to become accountable as management reviews were stringent and often.
Web Designer - (Jul 2007 - Sep 2007). Zoomf.com. Zoomf are a startup company, whilst there I learnt a lot about how to communicate within a small team. A lot of the time the team was fragmented across many places, as such I quickly learnt to draw accurate user requirements in order to deliver the correct solution determined by our funders and a superior product to our competitors.
Independent Web Programmer - (2004 - 2007). Various. Being self-employed I had to manage time carefully in order to finish projects on time, this meant juggling the requirements for the projects around my normal life. Also I learnt how to build up a relationship with the client I was working for in order to deliver the product they wanted, not the one I wanted to build.

Technical Skills

advanced

C/C++
PHP
(X)HTML, CSS
SQL
XML
Linux, UNIX

competent

Shell Script
Java
C#
Javascript
Open / Microsoft Office
Oracle, Sybase & MySQL
Windows (XP, 7)

basic

XSL
Webservices
AJAX
Apache

Most of the languages I have learnt I have taught myself. The languages learnt reflect the projects that I have worked on and also computing aspects that interest me.

Achievements

In 2007 I completed my Queen's Scout Award. The award took me two years to complete; along the way I hiked through the Alps, taught myself to program and also helped out at a cub pack. Since receiving the I have helped out at a Buckingham Palace Garden Party and the Remembrance Sunday service with other Queen's Scouts.

Also in 2006 I was selected to complete the Fulcrum Challenge which supports a number of development projects in remote parts India and Eastern Africa. I was given four months to raise £2000, this paid for my costs and those of the work we did, which was to help build an orphanage.

Whilst there I lead the entire workforce for a day and gained my CoPE Leadership Training Level 3 in the process. It was undoubtedly a very hard task, but one that really taught and tested my persistence, reliability, creativity and leadership skills.

Interests and Activites

I currently play rugby for a local team; training each Wednesday and playing each weekend. I have skiied all my life and continue to do so on a regular basis, I also enjoy swimming, football and basketball whenever I get time.

I have experimented with web based projects for a number of years, contributing to a number of open source projects. I am currently focussed on producing Drupal modules and also a facial recognition library that I aim to release to the general public in the future.

I have been an active member of the Scout Association for over 14 years. I have worked my way through all the sections and into the Scout Network. I also now help out the younger sections, especially when they go on camps or trips.

Referees

Available on request.