People profile : Software Engineer

Name: Robert Chipperfield

Education: BA in Computer Science, University of Cambridge

Position at Red Gate: Software Engineer

Start date: September 2006

Before you arrived at Red Gate what did you do?

Mainly concentrated on trying to get a degree, but I did have some temporary jobs during the summer holidays whilst at uni. The last one was a summer working in a school, which consisted of an entertaining mix of putting together flat-pack desks, demolishing the reception area, and rebuilding their website – so some real variety there!

What does your job involve on a day-to-day basis?

At the moment, I'm working on ANTS Profiler so, while most of my time is spent writing in C#, there's also a little bit of C++ thrown in there for added interest. As well as the actual code writing, there are discussions with the testers, technical authors, and usability people working on the project to make sure the final product is as good as possible.

What do you need to be a Software Engineer?

Surprisingly enough, knowing vast amounts of C# isn't actually critical – I'd never used it before I started here. A much bigger part of it, to me, is the ability to solve problems given the sometimes awkward constraints of the rest of the system. The external components might not do exactly what you want some of the time, and it's up to you to work out how to make them do it. You also need to be able to work well with others – even on a small project, you'll be working with at least one tester, and probably another developer as well, so good communications is essential if the project is to succeed.

Why did you choose Red Gate?

I first met some of the guys from Red Gate at a departmental careers fair at uni. We had a quick chat then, and it seemed like the kind of thing I was interested in – I've worked with databases to some extent for a long time. A few weeks later, they invited me out for a curry, then a couple of interviews, and before I knew it I had a job offer. It struck me immediately how friendly everyone there seemed to be, and I still believe that's true.

What are your favourite Red Gate perks?

The most obvious one is the cup of coffee and bowl of Weetabix sitting next to me now – both provided by the company. It's great to come into work in the morning, grab something to eat, and catch up on the morning's news and emails before getting started in earnest. I also got the opportunity to go to Microsoft Tech Ed: Developers last year, which was absolutely amazing – a jam-packed week of great talks and interesting discussions, as well as the bonus of a week in Barcelona.

What's your most memorable Red Gate experience so far?

There've been a few – obviously Tech Ed rates close to the top, but there's also the small things, like seeing the first sales come in for SQL Doc, my first project, or watching as the sales team break yet another record – followed, shortly afterwards, by a celebratory glass of champagne, of course.