Meet Matthew McConnell

2018 is the year of investment at Premier Labels. We have completed a full rebrand, launched our social media strategy and are working on other ways to ensure we are best equipped to help deliver for you. One of the ways we are doing this is by improving the efficiency of our costing software. 

We hired Matthew McConnell, a computing science student from the Glasgow University, for an eight-week internship.

Matthew at my desk.jpg

 

Here’s what he has to say about what he is hoping to achieve, his thoughts on working with us and his perspective on how computer science will influence the way our business evolves.

1) Hi Matthew, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Sure, I am a 3rd year student with interests in several areas such as technology, creators, music and generally learning new things. I am also bilingual and most of all enjoy spending time with the people closest to me.

2) What made you apply for an internship with us?
I knew I had the skills to produce what Premier Labels was asking for and I could visualise the solution in my head. However, I was also encouraged by the challenging prospect of handling a full project from start to finish individually while also having to work with people with a completely different skill set and field.

3) What have you most enjoyed about working with us?
I enjoyed the independent role I have had along with the friendly interaction with my colleagues in Premier Labels to get the best costing system possible to be set up for the company.

4)  What do you think we could improve on?
I’m not sure about a specific area that could be improved upon, but perhaps just exploring new areas and learning along the way is a good strategy for Premier Labels.

5) What benefits can we expect to see from investing in our costing program?
A smooth and integrated experience. This is one of the most important goals that I as well as other software developers have. This will be the biggest benefit as hopefully the speed and ease of use of the program will be much nicer than using the current spreadsheet costing program. As well as this, there will also be a benefit of being able to easily tweak parts of the program such as the options available. There is also a nice update to the quote layout to keep up with the company’s new brand.

6) How do you think advancements in computer science will affect the way we and other companies run their businesses?
Computers have always led to greater efficiency, and this will always be an advantage of the use of computing. Also, the advancements tend to lead to more of an integrated system reaching worldwide stages and the advancements in techniques used in computing science aim to achieve this.

7) What is your dream job?
Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. Ideally, I would like a job where the code I write makes a real impact and where the code is always being improved upon every day. The space sector has always interested me as a place to put my skills to use.

8) What do you like about computer science?
There is always something new to learn in computer science, a new problem, a new concept. This is one of the aspects that I enjoy, the fact that you’re never finished but you have successes along the way.

9) What don’t you like about computer science?
Along with always having problems to solve is the frustration of not being able to solve a problem. This is something every computing scientist deals with and generally just requires patience and perseverance with a cool head as well as trying many different approaches and analysing the problem correctly.

10) Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Trying to do the things I love doing while also being impactful.

11) What did you learn about label printing in your time with us?
That I wish it was as simple as pushing a button on a machine. But it is not. There are many different types of labels with many different costs involved, making the costing of a job complicated to calculate and input data for.

12) How have you been enjoying the company of your fellow colleagues? 
It has been fun to meet such friendly and funny people. They have all made me feel welcome in my short time here and I am glad to have got the opportunity to work with them.

13) What is the biggest thing you have learned from Premier Labels?
I’ve learned that creating a product for people is tough and requires that you communicate well ideas between each other. I have found this is key in getting the best possible production out of my time here.

14) What would like to say to the people at Premier Labels? 
Thank you for allowing me to work with you and I hope that the costing program meets all your needs and exceeds your expectations.

Premier Labels