Graduate Profiles

Gordon Keogh 

 I recently graduated from Heriot-Watt University with an MEng. in Software Engineering. As part of my course I undertook a 3 month industrial placement to gain experience of working in the industry. I had an initial interview with Real Time at its head office in Glasgow, and on leaving that day, I had a really good feeling about the company as a whole and the people I had met and was delighted to have successfully passed through the interview process. I started working within the Energy and Utilities enterprise and from the very start, I could tell that I was going to enjoy my time at Real Time.

As a student with no previous industrial experience, I had a real fear that the skills I had learned at university would be totally irrelevant in the working environment, as I had no practical experience of utilising these skills other than to complete university coursework and projects. I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to complete the tasks I was set, and that I would let people down. This feeling quickly disappeared. Everyone at Real Time ensured that I felt part of the team and I could ask any question, however small or trivial. To my surprise, I also found that I could apply the skills I had learned at university when working on live projects. When my placement came to an end, I felt like a fully fledged team member and that I had made a worthwhile contribution to the projects I had been involved in. I had made several new friends, and left with a new confidence in my own ability. I knew exactly where I wanted to work when I finished university.

I started my graduate position as a Systems Designer with Real Time in September 2006 and again joined the Energy and Utilities enterprise. It was good to see the same faces and it felt like I had never left. Since then, I have been working on several projects for companies such as Scottish Power, Ofgem and SONI. I have not been pigeon-holed as just a developer, but have been introduced to and involved in all of the different stages of the project lifecycle, which is extremely interesting as each day is different with new tasks and challenges. It also means that I am continuing to learn, which I felt was vitally important when looking for a graduate position. All in all, I feel I am extremely lucky to be part of a company such as Real Time and I look forward to new challenges ahead.

Simon Lee

My university background is a BSc (Hons) in Maths and Physics followed by an MSc in Information Technology Systems (both at Strathclyde University). After a short time working in the Electronic and Electrical Engineering department of the university researching microstrip antennas, I joined Real Time as a Systems Designer in the summer of 2002.

Within 2 weeks of joining Real Time, I had started work on a small, standalone piece of development that would end up being amalgamated into one of the company’s larger projects. That was a great way to start, both to develop my skills and to give me something useful to get my teeth into.

Once I had finished that piece of development, I began working as the DBA for the same project. As a result of this, I decided to work towards my Oracle 8i DBA qualification, which I completed earlier this month. The company supported the 5 exams that were required.

In the course of the 2 years that I have worked here, my main work (apart from the constant DBA duties, which take up a small part of my time) has been in C++ development and in system testing. The development work is what I enjoy the most, as I feel that it gives me an opportunity to implement some of the skills that I learned in my original Maths-based degree.

All-in-all, I have enjoyed my time at Real Time and look forward to the challenges ahead.



Further Information
If you are graduating in 2007 (or are a recent graduate) and have relevant skills to offer Real Time, please e-mail your CV to jobs@rtel.com, or write, enclosing your CV, to: The HR Team, Real Time Engineering Ltd, Academy House, Academy Park, Gower Street, Glasgow, UK. G51 1PR.

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