Using that old classic of computers, an Amstrad 128, Mr Liam Patel taught himself Basic. Then in his teens, he says there was no computing taught in schools.
Now, at 29 years of age, Mr Patel is manager of a team of 23 people, working with that giant of the software industry, Microsoft. On leaving school, he went to NUI Maynooth, where computing was new and offered as an optional extra subject.
He completed a BSc in physics, maths and computers and duly began to write to employers. It was the summer of 1991 and he had already collected a folder of 70 rejection letters (and those were only the ones who replied) when he saw an advert for an assembly operator with Microsoft.
"I had done physics and computing and the words jumped out at me - I would be ideally suited to a job as a programmer in assembly language. . . within a couple of weeks I was called to interview. I went along in a suit, with projects in hand." Of course, it was all a big misunderstanding and the job was that of a factory operative, packing boxes and feeding an assembly line.
This was carefully explained to Mr Patel who said he would take the job to earn money to further his studies. Once he had secured the job - a temporary position - he began to apply for other vacancies within Microsoft, eventually securing a post as a test technician for Excel 4.0 in French, Italian and Swedish.
After two years in the test area, Mr Patel and his girlfriend applied for and got Morrison visas. It only took him a few days to get a contract position with Microsoft in California as part of an automation team. Within three weeks he was working as a "build" engineer, which required familiarity with the operating system DOS and the language of Visual Basic.
Four years of sun, sea and snowboarding and, of course, programming, and it was time to return to the Republic where the Celtic Tiger was now flourishing. In March 1998, Mr Patel went to work in Microsoft, Dublin, as an automation test lead, working on all of the company's office applications. Shortly afterwards, he took on the additional functions of office operations team lead and release teams lead.
As to the future, as long as it is in software, that future will be with Microsoft, says Mr Patel. "If I was to leave, it would only be for a complete career change, because I think I have the best opportunities here. I would be mad to go elsewhere."
Meanwhile, like other IT companies affected by the current skills shortages, Microsoft is endeavouring to attract new blood. Mr Noel Boyle, staffing manager for Microsoft's European Development Centre, explains that the company has two divisions in Dublin - the European Operations Centre and the European Product Development Centre. It is in the latter centre, which localises software into some 30 languages, that Mr Patel works.
Microsoft has been in Ireland since 1985. The European Product Development Centre now employs 620 people directly as well as 350 contract staff.
Mr Boyle says: "We have a slogan that says `Get a job that's different' and I genuinely believe it. . . the focus is on the individual, he or she can shape the type of job they're doing." Typical starting salaries for graduates are in the region of £17,000-£18,000 (€21,600E22,860) per annum. The latest Higher Education Survey of graduates with computer science degrees shows 76.3 per cent found work in Ireland with 12.5 per cent going abroad. Only 0.9 per cent of the graduates of 1997 were seeking employment when surveyed in April 1998. Essentially, anyone with an IT qualification who wants work has his or her choice of job.
Information
For more information on careers in IT see Careers World, a multi-pack developed by Woodgrange Consultants (01) 661 8866. The Irish Times and RTE are media partners. Careers World has been distributed free of charge to second-level schools and third-level colleges.
The following companies and groups are participating in Careers World: AIB Bank, Amway, An Bord Altranais, Bank of Ireland, CERT, Civil Service Commission, Collins McNicholas, Compaq, the Construction Industry, Dell, Hibernian, Iarnrod Eireann, Irish Permanent, Jurys Hotel Group, Licensed Vintners' Association, Local Authorities, Light Rail Project (Luas), Microsoft, Musgrave, Superquinn, Telecom Eireann (Eircom), Windmill Lane Pictures, Xerox.
