From student to tech professional: software engineering students share their success stories
One of the first questions people interested in software engineering studies ask us is “what are my chances of finding work in this field”? This is often followed by other major concerns: How long does it take to find work in tech? Will the knowledge I acquire during my studies help me get a good job? Will the experience I gain as a software engineering student at Shenkar make it easier for me to get started as a developer in a tech company? Which is better — working for a small startup or a big-name corporation?
We asked some of our software engineering students for their thoughts. When it comes to choosing between a startup and a large company, the upside of working for a large company is having a big name on your CV. These positions usually come with good benefits and job security too. Working for one of the big companies opens a lot of doors and makes it easier to get jobs in other companies later in your career. However, many opt for small startups where they get to use the newest programming languages, climb the ranks quickly, shoulder more and more responsibilities in the development process, and enjoy very high salaries.
Another student at the department, who currently works at the Prime Minister’s Office and has just completed his third year in the Web and Cloud specialization track, says: “I’m a .Net & Talend backend developer. The PM’s office needed a software engineering student specifically — that’s why I was able to apply for the job. Naturally, the interviews and assessments were challenging, and the experience I had gained at Shenkar was really helpful for getting through them and getting the job.”
Third-year student Yuval Ozeri chose to work for tech giant Ness Technologies. He said: “I work as an instructor and content developer (both theoretical and practical) for students in the technological leadership and knowledge management program. My software engineering studies at Shenkar introduced me to all the technologies I teach about today, and the broad knowledge I gained enables me to pass on everything I learned. To put it simply, after only six months I became the one training new instructors. Here at Shenkar, we learn things they don’t teach anywhere else.”
Idan Azran, who has also completed his third year, shares his perspective: “I’m a software developer at a startup called Deep Learning Robotics. I’m currently developing a web-based user interface for working with robots and for using the company’s software. During my studies at Shenkar, we touched on and gained experience with many programming languages, mostly for web development, and I gained extensive knowledge in software. The courses really do prepare you for working in the industry! I never thought I’d be able to develop a web app that could interface with C++ software and use it to move robots.”
Bar Arbel who specializes in combining analytics and work practices, expands: “I work at Radware. I’m part of a team that focuses on load balancing. I just started last month, so right now I’m an automation developer. I’ll be joining our product development team later on. Regarding how studying software engineering at Shenkar has helped me — Radware was looking for someone with knowledge in communication, Python, Linux, and C. When I was being assessed for the job, I was asked about datacom and data structures. These are things we learned during our studies, so, all-in-all, things went pretty smoothly thanks to that.”
Idan Asoulin, who is currently starting his graduate project in collaboration with Wingate Institute, says: “I’m a backend Node.js developer at Cyberbit. I’m part of the delivery team working on an incident response system for SOC teams. Among other things, I develop integrations with cybersecurity products by many well-established cybersecurity companies. I also manage product customization for a major Canadian client. The knowledge I gained in Shenkar’s cybersecurity and web courses not only helped me pass the assessments and get the job — it also helped me with challenges I ran into on the job itself. At Shenkar, I learned to work with and design databases, use AWS services, collect client requirements, write specifications and design solutions. Recently, I even got to develop a user interface in React for one of our clients. In short, my studies were hugely beneficial, especially the specialization courses.”
Miriam Nudelman, now starting her final year at Shenkar, tells her success story, which began in her second year: “I started working as a data analyst in my second year. I also do a little data mining and data engineering. The company is called Medallia. It’s a B2B company offering CX solutions. The most helpful course I took during my studies was the one about databases. In general, I got the job thanks to my knowledge of Python and my participation in She Codes at Shenkar.”
Sagi Granot is currently starting his graduate project — a cyberwarfare collaboration with the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate. Sagi says: “A year ago, I started a job as an application lifecycle management engineer at Check Point. Basically, my job was to debug systems in productions. The Unix, cryptography, network communication, and cloud computing courses at Shenkar really helped me. Every single one of those courses was instrumental in my success getting the job and holding my own at the company. I recently transferred to the development team, and it really was thanks to what I’d learned, like I said. Now I’m a full-stack developer, which is something I could never have done without the web and cloud courses. I’m really thankful to Shenkar for preparing me professionally, and I recommend Shenkar to anyone wanting to become a software engineer.”
New alumni also contributed to the discussion. Michael Ben-Harosh recently completed a world class graduate project: a wireless IoT system for measuring and tracking swimmer performance in an Olympic-size swimming pool. Michael talks about his career so far: “Today I’m a product developer at BMC in Tel Aviv. My studies at Shenkar taught me the basics of software engineering, including leading programming languages: C, C++, and JS. The courses that helped me the most were the ones I took as part of my Web and Cloud specialization track (I’m not kidding).”
Lior Shachar, Michael’s partner for the graduate project, recently graduated as a software engineer with extensive knowledge and experience in both software and hardware. Lior shared his story: “I work for Isracard as a Java developer. Studying at Shenkar has given me a broad set of tools that lets me apply for most jobs in the field with confidence. I was able to get the job at Isracard thanks to the Java, data structure, and logic courses. The studies are very hands-on and really prepare you for industry. They help you fit into an organization quickly because you learn about technologies that are actually in use. For me, it was really helpful to know how web and cloud technology works, what the layers are, what’s in the frontend and what’s in the backend, SQL version management, diagrams… We learned so many useful things.”
Reut Leib‘s graduate project is a smart bracelet that combines IoT, web and cloud components. She also applied to present the new wearable at a conference in Italy, and is currently waiting for a reply. Reut continues: “I’m a backend developer at Green Invoice. What helped me get this job was the unique web specialization track Shenkar offers software engineering students. Other colleges and universities don’t offer specific courses on web development at all — certainly not at Shenkar’s level. I passed the home exam and got the job thanks to this specialization track. Moreover, at the job interview, out of the blue, I was asked about parallelism in databases and other backend-related questions. I didn’t study any specific materials for the interview. I only knew how to answer these questions because I listened in class.
Shai Robach is now finishing his fourth year and has already completed his graduate project, a solution to a problem raised by the Weizmann Institute. Shai says: “I’ve been working at Check Point as a software developer for two years now. I develop encryption infrastructures, with an emphasis on encrypted traffic protocols like TLS and SSH. The core courses of my software engineering studies — C, C++, Linux, communication, and operating systems — provided me with the fundamental tools and knowledge I needed to get the job, move up the ladder and establish myself at the company.”
