Shane O’Hanlon
More About Me
COMPANY: Allstate NI
I work for Allstate Northern Ireland which is a subsidiary of Allstate, one of the largest insurance companies in the United States.
Allstate NI plays a strategic role in developing, transforming and maintaining the various technology platforms used within Allstate, to support it in its day to day business, looking after the different systems that you might expect one of the world’s largest insurance giants to run.
Allstate Northern Ireland started recruiting in January 1999 and established its first office in Belfast’s Corporation Street. The company quickly outgrew that location and moved to its current building at Lanyon Place in February 2002. For strategic reasons, including a large labour pool and growing demand for services, NTNI opened a second facility in Derry in August 2001, followed by its Strabane location in June 2004. Currently the company employs more than 1400 people in these facilities.
JOB TITLE: Software Developer 1
As a software developer I currently am a member of a team which develops an internal business management system. This catalog is streamlining the number of different business processes currently being used in the company into a common interface. I currently do a lot of development using Javascript, XML and XSLT.
EDUCATION:
I have a BEng (Hons) Electronic and Software engineering. The course was very interesting especially in the latter two years. Here I had much greater flexibility with module choices and I was able to pick subjects that I was genuinely interested in. First year also gave me a solid foundation in mathematics, electronics and software development which was very beneficial for the latter years. Students were taught techniques that helped them go out into industry and adapt to emerging technologies. I particularly enjoyed the Professional Studies module which taught things like entrepreneurship and business techniques which are fantastic skills to have going in to industry these days. All in all it was a broad course that has helped me succeed in industry.
I completed my secondary education at the Abbey Grammar School in Newry were I completed my GCSEs and A-Levels.
WORK EXPERIENCE:
During my university education I worked part time for Henderson retails as a customer advisor. After seven months I secured a supervisor’s job in the company and when I graduated I was promoted to Assistant Manager. I remained there until I had secured my job at Allstate Northern Ireland.
REASONS FOR CHOOSING IT:
I would definitely recommend a career in the IT industry. The beauty of engineering and IT is that it opens up a fantastic range of career opportunities. If you have a genuine interest in technology then this is definitely the career for you. The job is interesting, you get to meet and work with people from many backgrounds and skillsets.
These degrees also give you the skills to branch out into different career choices in my opinion, as engineers are natural problem solvers which many employers seek these days.
SKILLS REQUIRED:
The job requires a lot of technical skills and a solid programming background. Since we are constantly liaising with our American colleagues, we are required to have excellent interpersonal skills and of course be team players. The work can be challenging at times so a high level of dedication, commitment and a hardworking attitude helps. A sense of independence is also required as a lot of the projects will require you to work on your own to strict deadlines and be able to make decisions which could impact not only your own project but others.
BENEFITS OF THE JOB:
There are many excellent benefits in this position, not just related to what the company offers as a remuneration package. We are encouraged to socialise and many social events are organised by a special committee once a month to help employees get to know each other. We also have flexible working hours which is an excellent bonus.
I also spent the first five weeks of my employment in Northbrook, Illinois where our home office is located. This is a just a short train journey from Chicago. On site we were involved in training for the project and transitioning it to our team. This was a fantastic experience which allowed me to explore a part of the US while meeting our clients face to face helping develop a good relationship.
CAREER GOALS:
Ideally in five to ten years time I would like to be doing one of two things:
1.) Helping in the education of others whether from a teaching career or as part of a training team within a company
2.) Running my own business, most likely in the software industry, ideally a company that would not only develop cutting edge products but would also help in promotion and education in the IT industry.
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