No, not at all. With my A-level subject areas I considered Teaching (everybody does), Computer Science and Business Studies. I settled on an Honours Degree in Business with Computing at the University of Ulster in Coleraine and it was during my time there, I knew my career path was going to be IT.  I really enjoyed the practical aspects of the degree. I loved creating and breaking code. I also loved my time at university so I continued to study post-degree and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Web Information Systems at the University of Ulster in Jordanstown.  When considering employment, a graduate position came up in a software testing role – I had no knowledge about the role but I took the chance!

Keep your options open.  Everyone has interests – focus on those areas you love and your day job will be rewarding.  I have been fortunate to be working in the software development industry since I graduated. I am currently a Software Test Manager for Almac and our work is really making a difference in the advancement of human health.

No, I enjoyed computer science at school but it was only during my degree that I knew I wanted to be involved with IT.  IT encapsulates many different areas and can open doors to a range of roles from development, testing and infrastructure to release management.  Not many students leaving university would be aware of the software testing career path – software development was probably considered to be the preferred route. I can see that trend changing though which is great.  I took a chance with a graduate role and that has been extremely rewarding for me.

Working as part of a busy department, both within the Craigavon site and our North Carolina facility, I have been involved with testing a number of applications over the years.  TempEZ^TM was a notable project – the TempEZ^TM application guarantees complete visibility of any commercial or clinical drug product’s temperature compliance throughout its entire journey from manufacture to patient administration. Our work has ensured that TempEZ^TM can provide the most flexible, convenient and secure platform available on the market.