Life beyond Radford
William Green
- Bachelor Degree, UNSW Australia, Electrical Engineering, 2015-2019
- Derivatives Trader, Optiver, 2018-Present
- Helped to build and then race a solar car across Australia. Team of UNSW students called Sunswift. Even got to drive it for a bit! Here's a video where I talk about one of the cars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgZztGSYeKY, 2017
What does life look for you now?
I’m a graduated electrical engineer from UNSW in Sydney that has wound up in a big tech/finance company. My current job is working as an derivatives trader, i.e., I buy and sell financial contracts that derive their value from an underlying asset (for example a company). Weird sounding work, but a lot of fun.
I try to spend my free time doing the most fulfilling things I can find. This could be with friends (many from Radford), or alone.
Tell us what you are passionate about?
I’m passionate about technology. I’ll share one example.
I’ve spent more than half of my university years in a solar racing team. We were a group of students that built a solar car over 18 months, then raced it from Darwin to Adelaide. At one point a few members of the team and I took the car around for a ten-day tour of NSW schools (see pic above). We talked about solar and renewables, and encouraged students to engage with the idea of sustainable engineering. It was brilliant
When you were young, what were you hoping to be when you grew up?
In Year 10/11 I wanted to do medicine and be a doctor, partially because it was the thing to aspire to if you were a smart student. However while completing some work experience, I discovered that what I was best at (read: maths) wasn't a big part of that particular future.
How easy was it to decide what to do in life?
Easier than I expected. In Year 12 I decided I needed experience and advice, so I talked to people who worked in the areas I was interested in. It was clear after that
Did your further study or career go exactly as you'd planned?
I have one- or two-year goals which land approximately at expectation. Staying the course for anything longer term was wishful thinking. When an opportunity or setback pops up I'm happy to pivot on the new information
What do you know now, that you wish you'd known when you were at Radford?
I’ll never have so little responsibility and so many friends in one place ever again.
What advice do you have for current students?
- Talk to people who work the job you want to work
- Seek experiences that align with your goals
- Try to help the others in some way
Anything else that you would like to share?
Particularly for engineers, university is an amazing place for experience beyond coursework. Your GPA is much less exciting to an employer than your side projects. I worked on building electric bikes, solar cars and autonomous drones. I interned at a self-driving car company and a stock market company. Though my grades trended downwards (I plotted them on a spreadsheet of course), the interest I received from employers only increased.
