Before joining Atos, Andrew studied Computer Sciences and IT at Nottingham.

When I started at Atos I was originally supposed to be working in the Test Factory for my first six months. But a call for additional people with Java knowledge meant that after only a month in the Test Factory I was moved to the application support team for a project for the UK Border Agency (UKBA).

When I joined the UKBA project it was in transition. We were taking over from a competitor, so there was not a lot of real work needed. I decided to follow one of the key pieces of advice I got when I joined the company, which was this: if you find yourself without much work to do, ask people if they need any help, because there’s always work that needs doing somewhere. This led me to join the support team for a system that monitors and processes all the social benefits for the island of Guernsey.

I was sent on a two-week training course to get up to speed on the technologies being used, and then started straight away on helping the support team implement an upgrade for the system. This was a real test of my abilities as a computer programmer. But it was a challenge that in the end I found myself quite enjoying, as it gave me a great feeling of accomplishment.

When I first joined the team I was worried I’d be given all of the mundane tasks that no-one else wanted to do. But this wasn’t the case. I quickly proved myself to be a competent Java programmer and soon found myself working on the majority of the issues coming in. A great deal of trust was placed in me by the rest of the team and the managers.

The advice I would give to anyone joining the Atos graduate scheme is the same that was given to me. Always look out for opportunities to help out others if you have the time, and always look out for ways to further your knowledge and better yourself. With this company there are so many opportunities to build upon your existing skills, or learn entirely new ones.

In the year I’ve been here, I’ve learned so many new things and developed a much greater confidence in myself and my abilities. And not just in programming. I’ve learned things in all sorts of different areas – like how to chair meetings, how to give a great presentation and even how to be an effective team leader.