Talk to the professionals in an online chat
Date: Wednesday 25 January, 2012
Participant: Jan Stanik from Openet
On Wednesday 25 January from 7pm we held a live discussion with Openet’s Jan Stanik (Snr Software Engineer).
If we didn’t fit in your question during the 40-minute session, please check back as we will be following up the unanswered queries.
Watch a video about the company here or read more about Openet in Ireland
A very big welcome to Jan, from Openet who joins us this evening to take your questions. Don’t be shy..find out what you want to know about what is involved in working for an indigenous tech company in Ireland. Post your questions now!
Hi, my name is Jan Stanik, I am a Senior Software Engineer at Openet Telecom. Ltd. I have joined the company 2 years ago, while previously working for SIEMENS PSE. I have studied Robotics (M.Sc.) and Industry Automation (Ph.D.) in Slovakia and since then I worked exclusively as Software Engineer, starting in areas close to my education, like programming automated manufacturing systems, mass production lines, then CA (Computer Aided, such as CAD or CAM) systems, at SIEMENS I worked in development of telecommunication platforms and in Openet my responsibilities are mainly performance and stability improvements of software products used in mobile operators infrastructure.
Hello, Jan Stanik
Is Software Engineering mostly programming and what course should you do to get a job in this area as there is no course with the title Software Engineering in Ireland?
How big a difference does the third level ICT course you do impact on your final job?
Thanks
[question shortened by moderator]
Hi Gerard, there are plenty of jobs in Software Engineering, for which it is not necessary to have any programming experience. Many of my colleagues are Software Engineers, but the level at which they handle the software is more from the other perspective that programming, e.g. testing, deployment and production management (the phase when software runs in the customer’s environment), customer care in general, training or user interface/user experience design. It is indeed broad area, where not only programmers are wanted. To the second question: having a third level degree will definitely offer you more options.
Could you tell us examples of any internships and work experience slots in your company for computer science students? How long are they and what kind of work is it?
Hi Dec from Dublin, our company participates in internships and work experience programmes, however those are not advertised on our webpage, but we use more direct links with schools and colleges. Actually, a few of these people stayed with the company and are now Software Design Engineers. They usually start under the supervision of senior colleague, but atmosphere in the company is very collective and they learn a lot also from people from other departments.
Hi Jan,
I am interested in engineering but not quite sure if I would prefer computer engineering over mechanical.
What would you say are the best and worst parts of your job?
Thanks
Hi Matthew, my degrees are both from Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, but I have studied interdisciplinary branches, which involved one third of mechanical engineering, one third of electrical design and one third of computer science. It is definitely good idea to attend a course with broader curriculum and later decide in which way you want to develop your skillset. Best parts of my job are that my job is fun, that I do not feel bored at work and every day I learn something new, either myself or from my colleagues. It is very good feeling work among professionals. Worst part is that you must have breaks for sleep, food and family. That distracts you.
Do you get to work in teams, or do you spend a lot of time by yourself?
Hi Kevin, we work in teams, but our job involves also great deal of personal commitment and responsibility. Anything what helps you to achieve goal is good enough. I have colleagues, which are both, extroverts and introverts. It changes from time to time.
hi,
I have 2 questions:
does having a language or languages help you get into a company like openet?
and
what would be the best course to do in university to get a job in a company like openet?
Thanks!
Hi Eoin, being multilingual helped me to get a job in Ireland and speaking from my own experience with SIEMENS, folks of my age who spoke both, English and German, have these days big leather chairs and windows in the office. I cannot say which course you should take at the college, but you can look at our webpage, http://www.openet.com/company/careers, to see what skills and experience our company is looking for. At the moment there are roles for software engineers, test engineers and management positions as well.
What are the 3-4 main computer languages you’d use every day and would there be ones that you taught yrself instead of doing in school/college?
Hi Coleman, I use C, C++, SQL and Bash on daily basis, while some work is performed also in Java, Perl, Python, Tcl and Javascript. I taught myself Bash, Java, Perl, Python, PHP, Javascript and Ruby. It is best to start with some high level language like Java, at least have some knowledge of C++ and learn at least one scripting language. That would give you some basic knowledge of how languages work, what they share in common and you can use that later to learn other languages much faster.
What sort of languages does Openet develop in?
Does it use frameworks or development environments like Ruby?
Hi Karen from Dublin, company develops mainly in C, C++, Java, Oracle PL/SQL, Bash and Tcl. We use plenty of frameworks, especially for Java Webservices related work (SOAP, CORBA).
hiya Jan, how important is maths in actual programming?
Hi Tim G, there are many things in math and you should not be worried about whether it is required in general. Programming utilizes also flavours like logic or graph theory, which are not what one necessarily recognizes as math. You may have problems with differential algebra, but you may like some other parts. It is important to fear not and never give up.
Thanks Jan, we’ve time to take one more now.
Was your college course like working hours (9-5 Monday-Friday)? I feel like after the Leaving Cert I would like to do something that has a less rigid schedule.
Hi Helen, I myself did not find it hard, mostly because I could pick modules that I liked. The same should apply also to you. It may take you a lot of time, but it is time well spent. I would recommend you to attend all classes, at least all practicals and ask any time you have doubts or do not understand properly. There are no dumb questions.
Thanks to all your questions tonight for Jan and if we didn’t get to answer yours we will try to follow up with a post later, so do check back again. Thanks to Jan for his time this evening!