Student praises work placement at innovative software development company

Computer Science student Sebastian Szaniszlo learnt some valuable employability skills during a year-long placement with an Essex-based software development company.

Sebastian’s role at Atlas Computer Systems was unique as he was the first university student to be offered a year-long placement.

Explaining why he chose a future career in software development, Sebastian said: “By doing software development I know I will greatly increase my problem-solving capabilities while also developing my technical skills while working on complex and challenging problems on a day-to-day basis.”

Atlas Computer Systems was founded at the University of Essex in 2007 by developers Simon Swords and Dean North who aimed to provide a bespoke, software building service to solve complex and unique business problems.

During his work placement Sebastian learnt how to use technologies for developing web applications, learnt new programming languages and became accustomed to working in a professional software development environment.

Sebastian found the placement a challenging, yet valuable, step into the working world.

He said: “I was very quickly assigned to work on a new company project and after a few weeks of training and trial and error development I felt like I was doing some meaningful work.”

Managing Director Jennifer House said: “Sebastian has been a great, hard-working member of the software development team who will be sorely missed by all the staff at Atlas.”

Now at the end of his placement, Sebastian will be returning to his studies more confident and prepared for the future.

He said: “If you have the opportunity to do a placement as part of your degree, my honest advice would be to grab it with both hands. Even if the role is not exactly what you would like to do in the future or you are unsure about the career path you want to follow, it is still a fantastic way to get an insight about the work that is happening in the real world.”

Atlas blogged about Sebastian's placement: 

• Catching up with Sebastian Szaniszlo 
• Interview with Sebastian Szaniszlo