What does your role entail?
I work on writing code which implements features and/or changes to government services. I sometimes work alone or with other team members on tickets. Tickets outline tasks that need doing which can be anything from changing the wording of a sentence in code, fixing a bug, or building a new feature.
Did you always plan to have a career in tech?
No, I have a degree and masters in psychology and criminology. During my masters I attended lectures on lots of different subjects some involved learning some basic coding. I enjoyed it and wanted to explore my options before jumping into a PhD, so after my masters ended, I found a free three-month coding bootcamp which taught me several languages and that was the start of my tech career.
What has been your career path to getting to Mercator?
It was actually quite simple – from the bootcamp I got an interview with Mercator and was offered the job.
Have you found it challenging breaking into your profession?
I think there can be a lot of barriers to people becoming a Software Developer/Coder. Partly those that are self-imposed, people often say they don’t think they are clever enough which is often incorrect and can limit what they think they can do. Additional barriers are not studying computer science at university or not knowing any coding for being self-taught. Both applied to me but did not stop me, there are ways around them, you just need to look for the right opportunities. There are also monetary constraints. Some coding bootcamps you need to pay for or the ones that are free are intensive, so for a period while you are on a bootcamp you cannot also work a full-time job.
How have you found working at Mercator Digital?
I have found Mercator to be a great company to train and develop my tech career in. There has been support throughout, with clear, easily reachable contacts for different types of support. Everyone I have spoken to has always been friendly and helpful. I feel I have been treated as an individual, my learning and progress is never time constrained or compared to my peers, which is a good thing.
What advice would you give to other women who may want a career in tech?
Go for it. You are never going to know everything, you will be continuously learning and solving problems. If this sounds like something you would enjoy, look around and find the best route that works for you. If you are not sure about coding yet there are lots of different free tutorials, checkout YouTube for projects for beginners. Maybe you learn best with a structure, so investigate coding bootcamp. Or apply to learn computer science at university, there are also conversion courses you can apply for. If you are highly self-motivated, start teaching yourself and build projects which you can show to potential employers.