Mirad Maglic

BSc (Hons) Software Engineering, 1999

In 1995 Mirad Maglic was living in war ravaged Bosnia and Herzegovina. Determined to improve his prospects, he decided to try and get a place at a UK university. Thirteen years later, and with a degree in Software Engineering from the University of Wolverhampton, Mirad today works for the biggest computer corporation in the world - Microsoft.

Mirad chose the University of Wolverhampton after enquiring about studying in the UK at his local British Council office.

“Studying at Wolverhampton was a very enlightening experience,” Mirad explains. “Being from Bosnia and Herzegovina, simply coming to the UK was an out-of-this-world experience.”

Once settled into his studies, Mirad was quickly impressed by how up to date the course was and the support of the University staff.

“The course was dedicated to teaching us the latest the computing industry had to offer,” he explains. “Even though the fast pace of the industry means that your knowledge has to constantly change, the basic principles have always stayed the same and the University was very good at cementing these throughout my studies.”

Mirad adds: “I was amazed with the approachability and helpfulness of the lecturers – I’ve been in touch with several of them since graduating offering me further help and advice.”

Returning to Bosnia

After graduating, Mirad returned to Bosnia and enjoyed a succession of highly paid jobs in the computer industry, culminating in being head-hunted by Microsoft in 2006 to become a Technology Strategist.

Heading up a small team of technology experts, Mirad now works with large scale companies to help identify problem areas, or pain points, and develop Microsoft technology to provide a solution. This envisioning and developing early solutions designs so that the solution exists before the problem arises.

“Working for Microsoft has been the most challenging professional experience I have had,” Mirad says. “The sheer size of the company and its product portfolio, along with the very fast pace of new product and product version development, means a lot of learning and development activities, just to keep on top of the game.”

And after five years there is still never a dull day.

“What I enjoy the most about my job is the fast pace. You could be working on a bread and butter (Windows and Office) deal in the morning, have a partner present their new solution at lunch time, and then finish the day off by figuring out how Microsoft products could be best used to solve a complex and challenging customer issue, such as customer relationship management, automatic inventory tracking, capturing knowledge within an organisation, or utilising social networking for better communication.”

Looking back at his time at Wolverhampton, Mirad has the following advice for students:

“Keep learning, never stay still – try to find a field which complements your primary degree and integrate what you know with what you are yet to know.”