Cambridge Student Balances Qomply Internship with Competitive Swimming

Summer Intern Programme at Qomply

25 July 2022

Yann Divet is a first-year engineering student at the University of Cambridge who recently joined Qomply’s Summer Intern Programme. Yann discusses what it’s like to work for a start-up, his passion for coding, and how he fits time in for swimming.

Tell Us a Bit About Yourself

First of all, thanks for having me here for an interview. I’ve just finished my first year reading Engineering at the University of Cambridge. I’m originally French but have been living and studying in London for the past 10 years. Alongside my studies, I swim competitively and recently qualified for British Nationals at the end of July.

Why Qomply?

I’m very pleased and grateful to have the opportunity to join Qomply. I was really impressed by Qomply’s progress since its foundation in 2019.

I sought a summer internship that would complement the theoretical knowledge from my university studies with some real-life work experience. Plus, I knew little about finance and was eager to learn how this complex environment interacts.

The Qomply internship afforded the opportunity to apply my coding skills whilst increasing my knowledge of finance – all with the added benefit of being exposed to the exciting workings of a start-up. I really felt as though I could make a real contribution whilst expanding my boundaries at the same time.

Tell Us About Your Coding Background

At school, I participated in coding competitions, reaching the online final of the Concours Algorea, a French algorithmic competition. To prepare for that, I read several Python online courses by the universities of Michigan and Toronto. I was able to transfer what I learnt on my own to group projects at university, and now this summer during my internship.

What Have You Learnt So Far?

In short, I’ve learnt an incredible amount around coding, finance and how businesses work.

Despite previous experiences with Python, I had never seen such large programs until my internship here, easily exceeding over 10,000 lines! Getting your head around the complexity of the rules engine can be hard and takes a lot of time, but I clearly have a better understanding of the technology. Coding in a work environment is very different to what is being taught at university or online, such as version control through Git.

What first amazed me was how diligent the Qomply team were around maintaining and ensuring the code is robust. In particular, my involvement in unit testing revolves around pushing the code to its limits. I certainly enjoy the satisfaction of finding areas to improve and make more efficient.

Although my work at Qomply focusses on transaction reporting, I’m able to learn about finance in general by being exposed to new vocabulary. All these acronyms can be intimidating, the Qomply team have been very open in explaining concepts and terminology.

The working rhythm is quite different to university: the days are longer yet more intense and timetables offer less flexibility as we are delivery-focussed.

How to You Find Time to Train and Work?

The first few weeks were really exhausting, both mentally and physically. However, I enjoy swimming as it helps me think of something unrelated to work, ready for the next day with a refreshed mind. It requires discipline but it helps me become more rigorous while working.

What Career Would You Like to Pursue in the Future?

I still have time to choose my career path and I like that my options are open. My internship at Qomply has certainly strengthened my interest to specialise in electronic and computer engineering in my third year. I absolutely loved my first experience in finance and I’m ready to take on another challenge in this industry.

About Qomply


Qomply empowers financial firms of all sizes to meet their regulatory transaction reporting requirements (MiFID, EMIR, SFTR, and ASIC) with best-in-class cloud-based technology solutions that are easy to use at affordable price points.

Our award-winning ReportAssure platform, powered by our proprietary assurance engine, delivers one of the most comprehensive arsenals of accuracy checks in the industry, ensuring our customers’ transaction reports are as complete and accurate as possible.

By offering affordable, modular subscriptions, we enable financial firms of all sizes to benefit from high-quality, regulatory reporting technology, choosing from a menu to suit all appetites.

For more information, please contact Qomply, on +44 (0) 20 8242 4789 or info@qomply.co.uk

Follow Qomply on social media on Twitter (https://twitter.com/QomplyRegTools) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/qomply/)

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