OXFORD

OTHER CAREERS
Deep Learning Scientist,
Apple
— using artificial intelligence, specifically
‘deep learning’, to help computers
understand what they see. I spend the
majority of my time doing scientific
research in artificial intelligence and
improving products with it.
teach) but with many more resources
(computational infrastructure &
large amounts of data for training AI
methods) and higher social impact
(building amazing products like the
iPhone that are used by everyone).
OTHER CAREERS
Wolfson College,
DPhil in Engineering
Science, 2015
WHAT: I work on artificial intelligence
in Apple’s Cupertino office. My
research focuses on computer vision
WHY: I love this field because it’s so
creative and has almost limitless potential
to improve the world. Silicon Valley is
an amazing place to do that — people
genuinely think anything is possible.
Getting started: Ever since a child I loved
observing people and understanding their
feelings & emotions. During my undergrad
in Cambridge I got curious about whether
computers could do that too. This got me
into artificial intelligence, which I then
pursued for my PhD at Oxford.
After the PhD I decided to shift to industry
as that’s where most progress in AI is now
being made.
Top AI companies have much of the perks
of academia (freedom to do long-term
research into problems that matter the
most, to share your findings with the
community through publishing, and to
TOP TIPS: Ask yourself what problem
breaks your heart in this world and
work on solving that. Passion and
motivation will follow.
Wherever you go, remember to actively
help the people around you, listen and
love them. That’s what really matters.
Be humble of your achievements
(including your degree) — you did not
achieve them alone.
Slow down and embrace your limits.
The world never runs out of things to
do — but you will run out of energy if
you don’t rest.
Remember that anything is possible.
FINAL WORDS: If you’re interested
in computer science and artificial
intelligence, learn about deep learning!
Mark Belcher
Staff Interpreter,
United Nations
St Edmund Hall, BA Modern
History and Modern
Languages, 2003
WHAT: I attend UN meetings and
interpret the proceedings from French or
Russian into English. My work is mostly
in New York, but occasionally I travel
elsewhere – last spring I was in Turkey
for a week – which is fascinating but not
always as glamorous as it sounds, for
example when we’re sent to a prison or
factory.
WHY: It’s an interesting, varied and
demanding job and you are confronted
with something new every day.
PROS AND CONS: I’ve been interested
in interpreting since school, but I
assumed you had to grow up speaking
several languages, which was not my
case. I moved to Berlin to improve my
German after university, and did written
translations. My first interpreting job
came via a friend who asked me to
do some work on a film: I got to meet
people and see new places - I loved it!
However, the rise of English as a lingua
franca means we’re all wondering how
long there is left for the profession.
Employability depends on how many
languages you can interpret from (for the
UN you need at least two passive
languages) and whether your
languages are in demand. Politics
can have a direct impact though
– Russian has definitely made my
career so far.
GETTING IN: To work for the UN you
should have an MA in Conference
Interpreting, so I took a one-year
course at the University of Bath.
I then passed the UN freelance
interpreting test, before passing the
Competition for staff a couple of
years later.
ADVICE: Because it is difficult to
get into the profession you need to
decide whether you want to invest
so much time and money. Anybody
who’s interested should talk to
working interpreters and potential
employers.
“People think it’s for them if they love
languages - but the languages are
just the starting point. You need to be
interested in everything, even if only
for one day...”
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