The ability to prioritise is key to Robert McIlreavy’s role.
Read how he became Head of Design and Development at Decision Time
Give a brief outline of your career to date.
After graduating, the university presented me with an opportunity to join a start-up company in the Republic of Ireland to build an online booking system for hotels and venues. I spent two years in the role. After this, I applied for a developers position with Decision Time and have worked here since. Starting as a developer, I’ve worked on all of Decision Time’s systems, spending a lot of time developing our early products and on the helpdesk getting to know our customers.
I then progressed into a senior developer role as the company shifted towards a SaaS business model, where I took a big interest in product and product development. Building up a good insight over the years into our products and processes, with guidance from the Directors, I am now Head of Design and Development. January will be my 10th year with the company. I can safely say that it has gone in the blink of an eye, primarily down to Decision Time putting people first, my colleagues and how much I enjoy working here.
What was your favourite subject at school?
Perhaps not a surprise, but I loved ICT. Geography was another subject I found interesting and was particularly good at during my school years.
Did you go on to further/ higher education, if so what did you study and where?
I attended the University of Ulster, Coleraine, where I achieved a 1st class Honours in Computing & Diploma in Industrial Studies with Commendation.
How did you get into your area of work?
I’ve always had a passion for building things, and the internet has always fascinated me. So it seemed a natural progression to concentrate on web technologies. I enjoy the process of learning how to solve problems. That’s what being a developer is all about – being the first to find the bug, or writing a database query that no one else could get.
Is this what you always wanted to do?
From university, I had a good idea that web development was going to be my career path.
Were there any particular essential qualifications or experience needed?
When I finished university, every web development job required a degree in computing. It was essential to have formal qualifications. Having experience was also going to help. Luckily, I had done a year’s placement as part of my degree and been involved in a start-up after I graduated. So by the time I had an interview, I’d gained a couple of years of experience already.
Are there alternative routes into the job?
Developers are in high demand. Although formal qualifications help, and it’s probably easier to get your foot in the door with one, there are now many other routes into a software development role. Apprenticeship programmes with local colleges are one option. Still, there is a tremendous amount of self-learning resources available online, and many of them are free.
Regardless of your background, a portfolio of work/projects and the right attitude can offset that formal qualification.
What are the main personal skills your job requires?
Decision Time is a company that really puts people first, so being able to work well with others is essential. We encourage open and honest communication at all levels of the organisation. Empathy is important within the product team, with the challenges they face, but also with our end-users. Being close to our users means we discover what is happening in their lives and what solutions we can develop to help them.
As developers, we tend to immediately jump into problem-solving and that is what we enjoy doing. But getting to why the problem exists for a user is a greater skill. It’s easy to be busy, so having the mindset of ‘what job can I prioritise today that will have the most significant impact on our users and customers’ is really important.
What does a typical day entail?
I usually start my day with either a walk or a cycle. Before looking at my emails, I also try to get some learning done. I find doing 20 minutes a day is better than leaving it until a Friday afternoon. I will then review the to-do list, helpdesk and the latest items added to the backlog. I’ll host a daily meeting with the product development team to look at any roadblocks and plans for that day.
After that, it depends on what I’m focused on that day. Hopefully, it’s writing code to contribute to our latest features. I set time aside to help other developers, reviewing code and designs sent to me by the product team or keeping up with our delivery and customer success teams. On Fridays, I make time to think about our strategy and features for the product.
What are the best and most challenging aspects of the job?
Every day there are new challenges, problems to solve or experiences to think about, which means I am constantly learning on the job. It also means the day passes so quickly. However, getting everything done that you hoped to at the beginning of the week can sometimes seem like a challenge.
Why is what you do important?
We build and improve a product that people use every day. We believe that for people to do their best work, they need the right tools. So we must build simple, collaborative and secure tools that positively impact the decisions they make, and provide successful outcomes for them.
How has Covid-19 impacted your business/role?
The usage of our product has significantly increased, and we had to adapt our roadmap to suit changing habits of people in meetings. We’ve introduced a whole range of features including integration of Zoom and Teams to accommodate the shift to completely online meetings.
What adjustments have you had to make?
We already had a working from home policy, so at first, it seemed like an extension of that. It was very different though having everyone working from home at the same time; creative meetings aren’t quite the same as having people in one room to bounce ideas off. And Zoom fatigue is definitely a thing that impacts me. Although working from home is great in many respects, there is a balance needed between the office and remote working, especially if you have young children in the house.
What advice would you give anyone looking to follow a similar career path?
Work hard, put in the hours and be passionate about what you do. But most of all, enjoy it! To help with recruitment, having a personal portfolio is a bonus, plus this will help you develop new skills and master the basics of your chosen language.
If you weren’t doing this what would you like to do?
I love being outdoors. If they only made a computer screen that works well in the sun. I also like building things so I’d guess landscaping would be something that I would enjoy.
What is the one piece of advice you would give to yourself on your first day?
Be more confident in your ideas and work.
Describe your ideal day off.
As a family, we love the north Antrim coast and, in particular, Portrush. So my perfect day off is spending it with my wife and two boys. I would start at a coffee shop for breakfast and much-needed coffee, then explore the beach, rock pools or caves along the coast. If we are lucky, there is time for a meal, and of course, you can’t go to the Portrush without getting ice cream.
And finally, what’s the key to any successful job search?
Research the company, talk to existing employees to find out what it is really like, find out as much about the company as possible; not just the technologies or products it provides but its values. Do they match yours?
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