Daniel Walsh, Java Developer, Murex

Degree subject BSC Computer Science
Job title Java Developer
Employer Murex

Just before I submitted my CAO application, I decided to change my number one choice from physics and theoretical physics to computer science. I felt I had become quite technically literate and I knew a computer science degree could lead to more job opportunities.

In my fourth year at university, I chose to do a six-month industrial placement. Our department set up links with nearly 50 IT companies, all of whom were offering us placements, some with really good salaries.

I accepted an internship at Murex— a software developer that provides large firms with the financial software for trading, risk management and processing. The internship was project-based and involved working with another of my university classmates. We wrote software to archive logs on the server. These were outputted as tables and graphs, which could be used to show clients how we deal with software performance issues. I worked really hard to impress them, which paid off as my classmate and I were offered a job in Dublin.

I work in the PAC (performance and architecture) team where we code and investigate defects in our software. If a high-priority defect is reported, I have to drop what I’m doing to solve it. Sometimes a lot of research is involved, which can be challenging. Learning to manage my time has been a really useful skill to have outside of work as well.

When I first started, I realised I had a lot to learn as my degree hadn’t taught me everything about software development. Luckily, I was assigned a buddy who helped me for an hour a day with coding, which was fantastic. Murex also run in-house training courses, where we get to see our products in use and from a consultant’s point of view.

Top tips

I love working in the city and the office is really sociable, with lunches and evening events every Friday. My advice is to get to know everyone at the start of your job, to break down social boundaries between you and your colleagues. It’ll help you to feel comfortable asking for help when you need it.

Daniel was interviewed for gradireland IT 2013