Case studies : Software engineer: Ed Moffatt

Ed attended the University of Bath and completed a mathematics degree in 2008. He is currently working as a software engineer for IBM.

I work as a software engineer for IBM, and I started as a graduate recruit in September 2008. One of the best things about working in software for this company is the flexibility to try different roles: you can easily move between development, test, customer support and other related roles as your career progresses.

This was something that I recognised about IBM during the placement year I did as an accountant with them. I read mathematics at university, and in my first two years I took all the finance modules I could - I sort of stumbled upon an aptitude for programming through a few computer science modules that were included in my course, but I didn't think I could pursue a career in it because anyone who'd done a more computing-related degree, or who'd been into computers from a younger age, would have an advantage over me.

However, on my placement I took the opportunity to apply my coding skills and produce software to speed up balance sheet accountants’ monthly tasks. This made me realise that I had to go for a career in software, because I enjoyed it so much. IBM then allowed me to work on more accounting-related software projects during my year there, as well as introducing me to people in the UK Development Labs who could give me advice and let me job-shadow them.

I returned to IBM after graduating, this time as a software engineer. I've now worked in three different types of testing, and I will soon be moving to a role in customer support. The changes have helped me experience a wider view of the product I work on, as well as get a feel for what job will be best for me in the long run.

My current role is in performance test; I work on storage virtualisation software, which runs on an IBM system X box. This sits amid a whole variety of hardware in a company’s data centre, providing centralised management, boosted performance and increased compatibility between their other systems. So although I’m testing software, there’s a lot of hardware involved too.

I often hear people saying that testing is dull, but I’ve never felt that. When I start testing something first I have to wire up my hardware down in one of the site’s labs; I get to play with some hefty, powerful kit, learning to configure it, and fix it when things go wrong.
 
At IBM, the importance of testing in the development process is recognised and that makes it a great job. The really cool thing though is that any software engineering role I did here would be just the same: the level of responsibility, opportunity to innovate and be creative, and the passion of those around you is very motivating.