Jack Bell, 21, from Thurso, Caithness, is a graduate software engineer at Rig Control Products (RCP).
He has a BSc (Hons) Computer Science, First Class.
What does your role involve?
I am currently a graduate software engineer at RCP, a leading control and instrumentation company servicing the global oil and gas industry.
Based at its Aberdeen headquarters, I develop software for both new and existing products as part of our R&D team. This involves a range of programming languages – some of which are new to me – so continual learning is a large part of my role.
While this is an onshore task, there is the possibility of going offshore for product installations in the future, which would be great experience for me and something else to add to my skillset.
What is your job’s biggest challenge?
Technology is constantly changing; and it’s important in the software industry to keep to current best practices and techniques.
This means that in addition to meeting deadlines, I need to refresh my knowledge regularly with continuous research and being aware of industry trends and the challenges it faces.
Technology plays a large part in operational efficiency and at RCP we are continuously developing innovative and advanced technology, including ATEX- and CE-approved control equipment.
Therefore obtaining the balance between research and project timescales can be a bit of a juggling act.
What is the best thing about your role?
Software development has been the core of my interest in the computing field for several years – even before I came to university.
It’s very nice to change what used to be a hobby into a career. Additionally, my role also offers the opportunity to delve outside of the software development aspects, so that I see the full picture for the systems that I develop.
Our systems incorporate various types of control equipment, ranging from control instrumentation to helideck monitoring systems, so it’s quite a diverse portfolio that we have.
I am learning something new about our software systems nearly every day.
What would be your best career advice?
Be confident about your skills – but try not to over exaggerate. If you aren’t sure if you can do what you’re asked, it’s worth playing it safe and saying you’ll need to read up on it first.
It won’t impress your interviewer (or your boss!) if you come across as either severely lacking knowledge, or over exaggerating skills.
What’s your dream?
In the next few years I aim to develop my skills in software development. Beyond that – time will tell. The sky’s the limit.