Interview with Karim Kilani

How did you decide on Surrey?

I wanted a university with a nice campus and that was quite close to London. That way I could experience the campus university lifestyle while still being able to commute to London within 30 minutes and enjoy all the city has to offer.

Coming from Dubai, I also wanted a bit of a change. I didn't want to live in the city per se, so Surrey was able to offer me something different. 
 

What were your experiences coming to the UK from Dubai?

I think it's quite different. Dubai is obviously quite a fast-paced city, and I think it was very refreshing being able to go to the UK and specifically Surrey. It was a completely new experience and culture. I was able to try lots of new things offered by the university, like the sports park. 

Where there specific parts of living in the UK you were surprised by? 

The amount of pints people have here, it’s basically like water! When I first came four years ago, I remember that being very different. Also Freshers’ Week – never in my life had I met so many people as those first two weeks. 

Coming from Dubai, the weather was the biggest shock for me. I’m someone who really enjoys the sun, but during the winters in the UK it gets dark really quickly and I think that affected my mood in the beginning. I found it difficult to adapt in my first year and find the energy to go out when was dark at 4pm, but you get used to it. I think I was surprised because no one had warned me about it, or maybe I never took it seriously!

Any advice for international students? 

If I had to give advice, I’d say to be open. It's quite a culture shock when you go from a different city or different country to the UK and then you're just like thrown into studying and freshers' week. So be willing to try new things and go out of your comfort zone – going with it makes a big difference. Be open to change and embrace the differences. 

Could you speak a bit about your family connection to Surrey?

My Dad studied at Surrey in 1995 and 2022 and still loves the university, so when I was deciding where to choose for my degree, it was heavily encouraged. From his perspective, he made lifelong friends and got to this stage in his career all because of Surrey, so he was really encouraging me to experience the same for myself. I think he was right in many ways, I made loads of friends and connections. My career now was all thanks to Surrey. 

It's become part of our family culture to go to Surrey. 

Any favourite memories from your time at Surrey? 

Some of the most memorable moments would be spending all night at the lab or library with friends to get projects done or revise for exams. It was obviously stressful but really fun. The fact that everything was always open for us was one of my favourite things. 

 

How has Surrey led to your career? 

When I joined Surrey, I didn't know what I was going to do after university and what career I wanted to get into, but the University has a really good employability team and they continuously pushed doing internships and placement years.  

I was able to secure a placement year with BMW Group with a bit of help from Surrey with my CV and cover letter. I really enjoyed it but I wanted something different for my graduate career. In my final year, the employability department helped me look for a role in consulting, which is what I do now. The whole careers and employability team has been incredible. The online services for finding internships and graduate jobs was great and their career fairs have been really good. All the opportunities so far in my career have been due to Surrey. 

Could you talk about the work you’re doing to support students with employability? 

I signed up to be an advisor to support students with finding a placement, building their CVs and covering letters - a lot of the things the employability department did for me. It was great fun because everyone’s different and you see people tailor their CV to different industries. I learnt a lot from it too.

Was it a big change moving from university to the workplace? 

No, I think the course was really helpful. I studied Computer Science with Business, which was good because a lot of companies look for that technology element. I'm a data consultant, so a lot of what I know and apply is actually from the course. The course was great because it mixed technology and business, which has been really important in consulting. 

 

How has it been working at PWC?

It’s been really good, very different to university life, but I’ve really enjoyed it. I get to use what I learnt at university and on my placement in the real world, and get lots of new experience working with a range of clients. It’s a new challenge and I’m still learning. The pub culture continues as well! 

Any advice to graduates starting their first job after university? 

It’s quite different to university but again, be open to change. I’m having just as much fun now as during my placement year and university because I’ve been getting involved and trying to do new things, even though I’m not the most outgoing person. When you're open and willing to go with everything and make the most of what you're doing, it opens up more doors. You get to experience more, have more fun and keep learning. 

If you are interested in studying Computing & Business Management, click here, or click here to find out more about the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering. If you'd like to find out more about being an international student at Surrey, click here. 

Find out more about employability at Surrey from our Director of Employability, Stella Kazamia.