Computing careers event pays off for student Joe

An event designed to give computing students an early advantage in their job search paid off for one University of Northampton career seeker.

When Software Engineering student Joe Harris attended an employability evening at Waterside campus, he didn’t expect it to lead to a work placement within a matter of days.

During the event, which was organised by the Computing department, Joe met Pavel Pantelejevs, who runs his own IT consultancy, in Duston – and also happens to be a former UON Software Engineering graduate, to boot.

Joe said: “A couple of days after the event I had a phone call with Pavel, who explained he was looking to take somebody on a paid contract and told me the details, the kind of technology involved, and so on. We then had an informal meeting at which I was offered the contract, and I started the following week.”

Computing students and employers at the employability evening.

Joe added: “So far, I have been working on a project which synchronises data within a cosmos database to two other databases, one of which is for analytics, another is for storage. This project is for a third-party company which has a 10-year contract with hospitals in Kettering and Bristol.

“I’m waiting to see how long the contract will last, but it could potentially lead to full employment.”

After gaining the taste of industry, Joe was also able to reflect on how his university course has set him up for the world of work.

Joe, who is 21 and is from Northampton, said: “Having worked within the industry so far, I’ve been pleased to find out that the course reflects the career very accurately, and is very relevant. It’s perfect for launching a career in software engineering.”