Putting Computing Skills to Work in the Software Industry

Oliver Mularien ’27.

When Oliver Mularien ’27 began thinking about college, staying close to home made the most sense.

A Bedford High School graduate, Oliver chose the University of New Hampshire at Manchester for practical reasons: he could commute, continue working, and earn his degree without the cost of living on campus.

“I didn't want to pay for housing, so I figured I might as well save the money,” Oliver says. “I was also working part-time, and the school is pretty flexible with schedules.”

What began as a practical financial decision put Oliver on a path toward a career in technology.

Now in his senior year as a computer information systems (CIS) major, Oliver has gained experience in programming, databases, networking, web development, and other areas of computing. This past summer, he applied those skills in a  professional software environment as a quality assurance intern at Trimble B2W Software in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Exploring a tech career through experience

Oliver entered his first internship with an open mind. While he initially pictured himself working in software development or engineering, he wasn’t certain which area of technology would be the best fit. Quality assurance (QA) gave him a chance to explore the software development process from another perspective.

“I figured even if I don’t want to go that route indefinitely, at least it would be a good experience seeing professional code and knowing how to fix small issues or small security issues,” he says.

As a QA intern, Oliver worked alongside software developers and user experience designers. He participated in daily Scrum meetings and created and executed tests for software features across manual, API, mobile, and Android environments using tools like Postman, Swagger, and Zephyr.

The role gave him a close-up view of how software moves from development to release, and what happens when something doesn’t work as expected.

Part of his job was finding those problems before users did.

From testing software to writing code

Oliver quickly discovered that quality assurance involved more than checking someone else’s work. He  also had opportunities to create automated tests that could repeatedly check software as developers made changes.

“I got to write some automatic tests,” Oliver says. “Whenever they would push an update to the build pipeline, it would run through my code.”

That meant turning repetitive testing tasks into processes that could run automatically, giving Oliver experience not only identifying software problems but also writing code designed to prevent them.

The experience helped connect the concepts he’s learning as a CIS student with the way professional software teams work.

At UNH Manchester, computer information systems students learn programming, database systems, software development, networking, and information security through hands-on projects. For Oliver, that broad foundation has been useful as he explores his own interests within the tech space 

Building a technical toolkit

Oliver has continued developing his skills both inside and outside the classroom.

His technical toolkit includes Python, SQL, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, along with experience in data structures, networking, database modeling, Windows, and Linux. He also uses tools such as Git and GitHub to build and share projects.

What ultimately connects those skills is an interest in solving problems.

“I enjoy taking on complex challenges, designing efficient systems, and continuously expanding my knowledge to become a stronger software engineer,” Oliver says.

While his internship helped him explore one possible career path, it also gave him something just as useful: a clearer understanding of the many directions a computing degree can lead.

The CIS program reflects that range. Graduates can pursue areas from software and application development to database administration, information security, systems administration, web development, and quality assurance.

For Oliver, there’s still room to explore. And that’s part of the point.

His experience at Trimble B2W gave him the chance to work with professional developers, see production software up close, write automated tests, and learn how a technology team collaborates.

With each project, class, and professional experience, Oliver gets closer to defining the kind of technology career he wants to pursue. As he works toward graduation, he’s building more than technical skills: he’s gaining the experience, perspective, and connections to help turn that vision into a career.