Meet the Team: Robert O’Leary
Robert O’Leary is a Recruitment Consultant within the Contracts team of Berkley’s Business & Technology Division.
From Cloud to Consultancy
Having put in several years of hard graft at a multinational tech company in Cork, it seemed like Robert was all set for a career in Cloud Computing. “In my time there, I started by working on tech support and then moved on to client account management.” Something clicked when he moved to account management, “I realised that this was something I really enjoyed and I wanted to find a role that brought together my technical knowledge with my client management experience.”
The pieces all came together following a conversation with a recruiter buddy. “He said that I had the right skill set for a career in IT recruitment. It was a perfect match for all the things I had learned in the 6-7 years prior.”
After a brief transition period, Robert soon unearthed a passion for the recruitment game. “Once I got started in recruitment, I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. I soon became addicted to it. It’s like a game – you’re always analysing your performance and that motivates you to constantly level up.”
Keeping Up in the Fast-Paced World of Development
At Berkley, Robert is the go-to guy for all things development. “I really enjoy the learning aspect of the role. Software development is changing all the time, so it’s important to keep up with the latest changes and news.”
In recent months, he has gone the extra mile and has started his own coding journey. “My tech background is in infrastructure. I wanted to learn more about development so I could speak the language of clients and candidates. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I do, but I’ve found it to be quite fun! ”
An avowed self-improver, it’s no surprise that Robert was attracted to the fast-paced world of development. “Development professionals need to be able to soak in new information every day. The development world attracts the kind of people who have a strong thirst for knowledge and who are always looking for the next thing. With that kind of personality, these guys can stay in the game for a long time and operate at a very high level.”
Tips for Climbing Up the Development Career Ladder
So does Robert have any words of wisdom for young or aspiring developers? “One great way to develop your skills is by working in a role that will expose you to the latest technologies. When job hunting, look carefully at the job description and think about whether the languages, tools and development structures that you’ll be working with day-to-day are future-proof.”
“In terms of languages and frameworks, I think there will be a huge demand for people with expertise in Golang, Kotlin and React.“