For software engineer Saul French, programming and development is more than a career; it’s a passion made pragmatic. Saul’s lifelong fascination with computers led him to study the field of software development in his GCSE years, and has since turned his enthusiasm for tech into a successful and engaging career.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞?
I started with Applied during my placement with SRC, and was with the company for a year through my placement. I left to complete my degree in Computer Science at QUB, and once I finished, I knew I wanted to return to Applied. I got in contact with the team and was lucky enough to secure a full-time role.
I am one of four developers who supports our Irish home insurance product. My scope of work includes systems integrations for insurers as well as managing and correcting any errors that may arise for our customers.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤?
Recently, I participated in an internal hackathon. Our team of four developed a system to generate insurance documents for customers and were selected as the overall winners of the event. Not only were we the winners of five teams across Great Britain and Ireland, but we’re also now preparing the launch the product – called Doc Doc Goose – to our customers.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦?
My manager Tyrone is a real inspiration to me and our team. He trusts us, doesn’t micromanage our work, but is always available when we need assistance. My team is great, and everyone is very friendly. We all choose to come into the office on Wednesdays to connect in-person weekly, and we all get on well and collaborate on projects together.
Our managers encourage us to connect as teammates outside of work as well. For instance on Fridays, the team puts time aside to play games together. We’ll also go for a team lunch and a pint every few months at no cost to us thanks to the “fun budget” Applied sets aside for us to use together.