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Graduate Opportunities in Wales: IT Management & Software Development

prosper_logo Prosper Recruitment are currently seeking Graduates and Postgraduates for exciting job opportunities in the field of Software Development:

Software Developer (Ref. 3110) : Gwent

> Permanent £30-£33K
Our client is a leader in the manufacture and supply of high quality products for the financial and retail sectors. They currently have an opportunity for an experienced Software Engineer to join their team as soon as possible

Main Duties

To design, support and maintain the company’s software products and applications
Assist internal and external customers to derive appropriate software specifications for products.
Manage and develop new software projects through the entire development lifecycle.
Design, develop and validate software changes in compliance with approved procedures and within agreed timescales.
Manage temporary or contract personnel on PC-software projects.
Provide advice, support and training on software use to staff and customers.

Candidate Requirements

A relevant degree or equivalent with proven programming experience
Experience of C# and .NET framework and JAVA on a Windows platform.
Familiar with ASP, AJAX, CSS
Experience of RS232 and USB communications protocols
Experience of Microsoft SQL databases.
Knowledge of embedded C would be an advantage but not essential.
Excellent analytical, numeric and interpersonal skills.
Strong team player, flexible and customer-focused

Software Developer (Ref. 3109) : Swansea

> Permanent
Our client operates on a worldwide basis delivering the best Control of Work software tools and support services to the largest multinational oil, gas and chemicals companies in the world. They are seeking a talented individual to enhance their development team.

Main Duties

To support the company’s specialist software
Work with the development team at all stages of the development lifecycle
To research and take advantage of the latest technologies and advances

Candidate Requirements

Good degree in Computing or IT related subject
Proven experience of all stages of IT Product Design
Experience of using ASP.NET, .Net Framework, C# and SQL is required
It would be useful if you have knowledge in any of the following: HTML / CSS, JavaScript, MSSQL / Oracle, XML, Visual Studio
Excellent awareness of the latest technologies
Excellent communication skills with a good standard of written and spoken English
Self motivated team worker able to work unsupervised to tight deadlines
To be able to travel as there may be opportunities with this role

IT Manager (Ref. 2674) : South West Wales

> Permanent : Circa £35K
Our clients are established and highly successful medium sized coming offering services to manufacturing companies throughout the UK. The company are currently seeking to recruit an experienced IT Manager to play a key role in maintaining and developing their networked systems to support the business

Main Duties

Lead IT operational and strategic planning to suit business strategy
Benchmark, analyze, report on, and make recommendations for the improvement and growth of the IT infrastructure
Manage financial aspects of all IT, including purchasing and budgets
Develop and implement all IT policies and procedures, including those for architecture, security, disaster recovery, standards, purchasing
Manage the deployment, integration, monitoring, maintenance, development, upgrade, and support of all IT systems, including network servers, company website, telephone systems, PCs, operating systems, hardware, software applications, technical support
Manage small IT team including recruitment, supervision and development
Maintain, monitor, update and improve company website

Candidate Requirements

Strong technical knowledge of PC operating systems, networking, website and communication technologies and protocols
Strong technical knowledge of current network hardware, architecture design, and standards
Experience with Sage and SQL server database management systems
Ideally you will have experience in web / software development programmes
Proven experience in IT infrastructure planning and development
Ability to manage Managing Multi sites
You will have strong leadership and interpersonal skills
Ideally understanding of human resource management principles, practices, and procedures

Take a look at our current vacancies at: www.prosperec.co.uk and register today by emailing your CV to info@prosperec.co.uk.

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Graduate Profile: Sion Williams

What was your undergraduate degree and when did you graduate?

I have a degree in Computer Games Development.

What is your job title and role?

IT Build Manager

Could you briefly describe the organization you work for?

I currently work for one of the fastest growing insurance providers in the UK, based in Exeter.

Did any of your degree modules inspire you or help you in choosing your job?

Interestingly the subject I disliked the most (Software Engineering) ended up being the bread and butter of my daily work.

What modules are most helpful to you in your job?

Build and Release management is an interesting field because it’s not an intensive programming role, be we are often seen as the problem solvers.

Where do you find yourself using the transferable skills that you developed in University?

Because of the architectural complexities behind games development I was often presented with a myriad of different types of problems – the skills I developed throughout the course are all used on a daily basis. In some ways I would even say I had an edge over some other candidates from a computer science background.

Where do you use your specialist skills and abilities?

Whilst I don’t do real-time software development, I do use many of my programming skills, and ability to learn programming languages.

Do you have a typical day and how would you describe it?
The build manager is the person responsible for managing the following processes:
-Create baselines from the initial version of software.
-Organize and refine the structure of your software.
-Set up build management projects for testing and staging.
-Set up and maintain process rules and folder templates.
-Collect software changes from developers, then build test areas.
-Run reports to find out features and tasks that are in or not in a build.
-Freeze software at important milestones, such as a customer release.
-Make the latest changes available to developers.
-Delete baselines that are no longer needed.
-Recreate old software releases to identify problems and create fixes.

What aspects of your job do you enjoy most?

Every day offers a new challenge. As I work on most projects in the company, I don’t get stuck doing the same thing constantly. I also have a real opportunity to make software development faster and more reliable. The pay is excellent too (more than a developer).

Any tips for someone wanting to develop a career in your sector?

If you have a passion for software development, but don’t want to cut code every day, then this is the perfect role for you. Work with open source tools, look at how they are built and find out ways to improve it. This will set you off on the right foot for a role in IT build management.

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M.Sc. Applied Computing and M.Sc. Computer Networks

Swansea Metropolitan is a partner in ‘Access to Masters’, a project funded through the European Social Fund in order to increase the number of graduates in Wales with a Masters Level Qualification. Students who live in the Convergence Area of Wales may be eligible to receive funding to cover the cost of tuition fees as well as providing a bursary of up to £5695.

We at the School of Applied Computing, Swansea Metropolitan are currently recruiting for the M.Sc. Applied Computing and M.Sc. Computer Networks courses and have been allocated a limited number of funded masters places though the ATM Scheme. The philosophy that underpins the M.Sc. courses at Swansea Metropolitan is that they relate to the school’s vocational nature and have been designed to enhance a graduate’s employability. They focus on the practical application of theory whilst maintaining academic rigour. This makes the programmes distinct when compared with more traditional computing M.Sc. programmes.

The M.Sc. Applied Computing has a distinctive flavour providing a mixture of databases, computer programming, systems analysis and project management. These skills are in great demand in the modern IT industry and our graduates will, we believe, fill many of the ‘hard to fill vacancies’ that are reported by the computer industry generally.

Any questions regarding the course content should be directed to the course director Glenn Jenkins (glenn.l.jenkins@smu.ac.uk). For more details regarding the ATM funding please contact Nicola Powell (nicola.powell@smu.ac.uk).

The newly updated MSc Computer Networks offers mixture of routing and switching, emerging network technologies, high performance computing, network security, and project management. The programme includes material required for the Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) qualification. The networking industry requires staff with these skills to fill many vacancies. Any questions regarding the course content should be directed to the course director Kapilan Radhakrishman (kapilan.radhakrishman@smu.ac.uk). For more details regarding the ATM funding please contact Nicola Powell (nicola.powell@smu.ac.uk).

This project has been part-funded by the EU’s Convergence European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.

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Computing for Schools: Cwrt Sart

The School of Applied Computing would like to thank Teacher Chris Rees and all the Pupils from Cwrt Sart Community Comprehensive School for visiting the School today for a Higher Education Computing Taster session. Led by Kevin Palmer and supported by Tim Bashford, Stephen Hole and James Williams (members of the School’s Lecturing Team) Pupils from Cwrt Sart enjoyed using a Visual Programming Environment to create a Game Application.

Congratulations to ALL the students who attended and demonstrated some very good Programming and Game development skills, Well done. We hope you enjoyed your day at the University.

For more information about Courses for Teachers in Applied Computing and Applied Computing Taster sessions for pupils please contact James Williams via e-mail: james.williams@smu.ac.uk.

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Graduate Profile: Michael R Owen

What was your HE course and when did you graduate?

BSc (HONS) Computer Networks in 2012

What is your job title and role?

Telecommunications engineer.

My role at Swansea IT Group is to provide support for the organizations many clients, ranging from network troubleshooting/advice, configuring Linux servers, training clients to use the PBX system, and general support.

Could you briefly describe the organization you work for?

The organization provides a range of IT solutions (VoIP, web design, network design, consultancy, and system administration). For the VoIP system they use Asterisk on a Linux server incorporating an open source platform called Vicidial.

Which skills learned at University are helpful to you in your job?

I have learned a number of skills after graduating from University. By sticking to assignment deadlines and the final year project, I learnt how to effectively prioritize my workload. This has helped in my role, as I may be given a number of support tickets each day ranging from simple fixes to more advanced troubleshooting. Which all need to be prioritized based on the difficulty or the alert level of the ticket.

My course helped me develop my troubleshooting skills by understanding the fundamentals of computer networks, such as the OSI model. With a good understanding of the OSI model you can quickly judge what can be causing an issue, by narrowing down the problem to a specific layer. With this way of thinking you can easily resolve problems which are not networking related.

Using the Cisco equipment to build networks for assignments quickly helps you build up your troubleshooting abilities as you can make mistakes that you would not normally make or see when using a network simulator.

What aspects of your job do you enjoy most?

My favourite aspect of the job is configuring networks and providing network consultancy to new and current clients. Whether it be how they should design their network, to suggesting VPNs, and general troubleshooting to provide a stable and secure network.

If you could give advice to current students what would it be?

If you’re ending your second year I would suggest making a start on your final year project, as I completed my literary review in January, it provided me with plenty of time to spend on the implementation and troubleshooting of my final year project. This in turn, gave me more flexibility for completing assignments and plenty of time for exam revision.

I would advise any networking students to complete their CCNA studies before the final year, as the final year can be heavy in work load with the final year project, assignments and exams.

The CCNA is a valuable certification to gain, as it will help you stand out from those who do not have the certification when applying for networking/IT support related jobs. If you are interesting in taking on a networking role, there are plenty of other Cisco certifications other than the routing and switching path, which may interest you.

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Exciting Project Opportunities

Many thanks to Company Director Andrew Bury from IntroTeach for visiting the School and offering our Students some exciting Web & Mobile Application Development Project Opportunities.

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Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards

Applied Computing graduates short-listed as one of 8 companies for the welsh heats of the Lloyds TSB enterprise awards.

Congratulations to Swansea Met Applied Computing graduates Max Willems (CISCO 2009) and Daniel Morris (Web Development 2011) and Appah Prince a Swansea University graduate who have set up a business called Room Paddy. The business aim is to make travel more social, fun, enjoyable and pleasant.