Insights 5 reasons Atkins Rail Consulting Practice is a great place to start your Software Engineering career

Meet Andrew Riggs, a Degree Apprentice in our Plymouth Office. He describes himself as a "bit of a" tech enthusiast,

"I often tinker around with services and applications I self-host at home, such as for home automation or 3D printing. This generally includes developing new applications to solve everyday problems I come across which don't yet have a solution which meets my needs, many of which I often make open source. One example is a universal bin collection app which I developed as no existing options met my needs. While making it, I learned about and implemented new technologies."

We asked Andrew for his top five reasons why Atkins is a great place to start a career in software engineering:

1. You can choose the kind of role that interests you

While my experience covers work on railway systems, integration and operations, my core specialism is in design, development, and deployment of software-based solutions. This work can range from the development of bespoke applications automating or supporting processes to long-term software development roles as part of an Agile development team for larger, more complex software solutions.

2. You'll work on key projects for respected clients

Working as a young professional within Atkins Rail Consulting Practice, I've had the opportunity to support and work with clients in a variety of projects and roles. This has provided opportunities to increase my breadth and depth across various disciplines and my core specialism of software engineering.

3. You'll work on the leading edge of software development

As a full-stack software engineer, I work with Network Rail in a small Agile development team on Acumen, a web-based traffic management platform. The platform interfaces with various railway data feeds to provide a single source of truth, which is then integrated with bespoke applications to better support operators and station staff in making decisions.

4. You'll be trusted to lead your own project packages

While working as part of a small team has required me to wear many hats, it has provided opportunities to take control and lead larger aspects of the project. It has enabled me to take responsibility for the architecture and design of solutions and their implementation early in my career.

5. You'll be part of a friendly, inclusive work community.

We have a small and relatively remote office and a close-knit team. Though there have been changes with the increase in remote working since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, our social outings, events, and team breakfasts help to keep the community atmosphere alive.

Andrew, do you have any advice for people looking to start their early career inside Atkins?

Come up with an idea of where you see yourself in the future to help make sure the role is right for you. While this may change as you work on and experience different projects, it's good to have a starting point to reflect on retrospectively.

Learn more about Early Careers with Atkins and choose an area that excites you. Discover more about Rail roles within Atkins.