From Berkeley to Full-Time Work
Hi, I’m Matthieu Delarue and I recently finished my engineering degree (majoring in computer science, with a minor in UX design) at Isep. In France, engineering school lasts five years, which includes bachelor’s and master’s degrees. I attended the Berkeley Global Access (BGA) Program during my last year of school in fall 2024.
I chose BGA because Berkeley is one of the most prestigious partnerships my school has and only a few students are allowed to choose this destination. Also, I knew that BGA would allow me to choose the classes I wanted to attend, even if they were not directly related to my major.
I took Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, Theory and Practice of Tangible User Interfaces and Introduction to User Experience Design.
The AI course was directly related to my major and enabled me to go deeper into the programming and algorithms topic, which is very important for a computer science student. My two other classes were related to my minor and I chose them based on my desire to specialize in front-end development, which involves understanding users and many other nontechnical skills that computer science classes don’t teach.
Compared to Berkeley, classes at my home university don't really have a syllabus that says what we're going to learn during a class. Also, lectures are much less common—from one class to another, the professor does not give articles to read to prepare for the next session. We usually have some technical exercises to do on our own, but classes are the first time we dive into the topic.
Scheduling in Exploration Time
During the semester, I did make time to travel around the U.S., including visiting Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park and Hawai’i.
But my secret place was the Berkeley Hills fire trail, especially this spot. Sometimes after classes, I would climb to this area and admire the sunset from the amazing panoramic view over the bay. The first time I hiked to this spot, it took me around 35 minutes, but after a few times I was able to make it in less than 20 minutes. In all, I think I climbed to this area more than 10 times! I loved it because it was calm, never crowded and perfect to rest peacefully while listening to nature.
Other places I suggest you visit include the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower and just biking around the bay.
Gaining Work Experience
During my time at BGA, I worked on strengthening my portfolio and searching for an internship, which I succeeded in! I interned at Pigment, a French company based in Paris.
I was working on their main product with dozens of other engineers. My responsibility was to deliver new features to the products as I was front end–oriented, meaning that I was mostly working with designers. The Berkeley UX design class taught me a lot, especially about the process of gathering feedback, asking the correct questions and having a clear process to ship new features.
For instance, we were working on a new feature that was technically very complex so I worked with the designers and offered a working design. The UX design class taught me about communicating our ideas efficiently, which was very helpful for this kind of work.
I’m excited to share that I just joined Theodo—also in Paris—as a full-time software engineer! Theodo is a software design company that provides digital solutions for numerous organizations. I will be in the government team, which works for the French government. I’ll be collaborating on the France Identité project, which is an authentication system used to identify people for government-related websites.
I’ll also be working on developing their mobile app that will digitalize the driver’s license in France and the national ID card so that French people won’t need to carry their physical cards anymore.
I'll work on new, upcoming features that will help the government in their digital transition.
Looking back on my time in Berkeley, I offer this advice to you: Please do not stay home too much! Take this opportunity to go out and explore, even if it is on your own.
