People profile : Software Engineer

Name: Simon Cooper

Education: BA in Computer Science from Homerton College, Cambridge University

Position at Red Gate: Software Engineer

Start date: September 2007

First job ever:

Computer repair guy in a small computer shop in Tynemouth

Before you arrived at Red Gate what did you do?

I came straight from university. As well as the Computer Science course, I was helping out as a Tester for the Gentoo Linux distribution, and had worked in the Cambridge Computer Lab over the Summer reverse engineering and reprogramming their lecture theatre control software. I was also the techie on a number of holiday camps in the previous few years.

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

All sorts, really. I'm currently working on a new check for updates server, involving C#, ASP.NET, T-SQL and database design. It's not all just coding either, you need to work with the Technical Authors and User Experience people to make sure what you're writing is usable and understandable. I've also recently started work on updating the main SQL parser for SQL Server 2008, so I'm also relearning all the parser and abstract syntax tree stuff I did in my university course.

What do you need to be a Software Engineer

Enthusiasm, willingness to see a project through and problem solving skills. You don't need any specific language skills - I hadn't done any .NET or SQL programming before I came to Red Gate. The entire coding process is problem solving, so you need to be able to construct a working solution to sometimes very complex problems and be able to put it down on the screen in a coherent way. You will also often be working on the same program or project for months at a time, so commitment to a project and willingness to see it through to completion are also important.

Why did you choose Red Gate?

It is exactly the sort of place I imagined myself working at while I was at university. Red Gate is still quite a small company - there's only one person between myself (one of the youngest people in the company) and the Directors, and I can go and talk to the Directors myself whenever I need to without having to go through anyone. It's all very informal and enjoyable as well.

What are your favourite Red Gate perks?

Tough, as there are quite a few to choose from. The free smoothies are nice, as well as the company lunches on Thursdays. The trade shows and conferences you can go on feature pretty high up too; a few weeks ago I was in Barcelona for the Tech Ed developers' conference – and I had only been with the company a couple of months!

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

Definitely the Tech Ed conference. Red Gate paid for nearly everything, the conference was really interesting, and everyone really enjoyed it.