Where I was, Where I am, Where I want to be

So after completing my Bachelor of Science in Computing back in 2022 (after also completing my LLB in 2015… but that’s an entirely different story!) I’ve decided to make a start on the next stage of my academic journey and my desire to improve my skills and knowledge in the exciting world of technology and postgraduate study.

Bachelor of Science

So earlier this year, after lots of researching and consideration I made the decision - it’s time to do my Masters!.

When I finished studying for my BSc I was really proud of what I had achieved. I originally started studying my Bachelor or Science when I worked at the bus company Arriva in 2017. I remember packing some of my study materials into my driver’s backpack and would start reading my very first modules in the driver canteen or whenever I had a long wait time at a timing point.

Fast forward approximately 5 years and 12 modules later and I was proudly walking across the stage in Bridgewater Hall in Manchester to receive my second degree and a classification of an Upper Second class 2:1 Honours, with much of this study period having been achieved whilst juggling both full-time work and caregiving responsibilities at home.

Working the developer life 9-5:30

Back in 2021, after progressing through many of my modules in my degree and self-teaching myself enough about HTML, CSS and JavaScript I decided to try and get myself into the IT industry and start a career in the sector that I have always been fascinated by and been enthusiastic about.

So I decided to leave my job working in a supermarket and focus on trying to gain employment as a graduate developer (leveraging and taking advantage of the fact that I was techincally a graduate due to already holding a Law degree at this stage).

I came across a really interesting job advertisement for a Graduate/Junior Web Developer for a company that happened to also be within Derbyshire, and less than an hour from where I lived! I took the plunge and applied, and to my surprise I was invited to take a technical test, followed by a final interview at the company office.

This all happened quite quickly, and soon enough I was working as a Junior Web Developer, rapidly learning PHP (a language I had never even looked at previously), and getting to grips with the MVC framework of an extremely popular cocktail website.

Almost 3 years later, I’m now much more competent with PHP, as well as having picked up a lot of tips and tricks in JavaScript and CSS. Feeling content with the progress I made here, I continue to work hard in the role but still had that itch for more.

Mastering the Masters

So this brings us to where I am now, enrolled on my first module with The Open University for my Masters postgraduate degree.

As part of my role at work, due to the small size of the company I work for, I’ve been fortunate to be exposed to many aspects of the business whilst working as a developer (including systems administration, management of tickets, frontend and backend development, etc.).

With my past history as a company director and my background in law I contiunally found myself drawn to the inner workings of the projects I was working on and how they progress, are managed and potentially improved.

This led me to create a roadmap for further developing my knowledge and skills, leading me to conclude that I should focus on learning more about the following areas:

• Project Management: Due to my role of managing tickets and managing my own workloads when it comes to working on projects. I am keen to learn more about the entire project lifecycle and how to maximise success and manage risks.
• Data Management: In my view data is now arguably more valuable than money itself, so learning how to manage data and all aspects of it from handling the data, securing the data and the use of Big Data was something I am keen to learn more about.

Next Steps

Of course, I don’t intend to just stop with my Masters. I feel I have reached that part in my early career now where I am becoming more and more fascinated and inquisitive about various technologies and the technical world that I am working in every single day. Additionally, I feel that I have rediscovered my passion for people and management roles. So alongside this I also intend to:

• Learn more progamming languages: Starting with Java, I am interested in learning more about other programming languages, with less of a sole focus and reliance on a browser and the web.
• Develop a portfolio: Based on the above, as I teach myself new languages, attempt to create small personal projects that can be added to a portfolio on my GitHub and link and analyse on this site.
• Gain Project Management qualifications: Start looking at and researching additional courses I can do towards becoming qualified as a Project Manager and gaining further skills needed to be an effective manager and leader within the technology sector.
• Self reflect: As I continue with my education and my personal development, try to reflect on what I know and what I will need to know in order to get to where I want to be in life.
• Be kinder to myself: I often give myself a hard time, but as I continue to expand my knowledge base I also need to take some time to reflect upon what I have already achieved and not be so hard on myself. Wise words I was told a while ago by my boss was when it comes to technology “The nature of this industry is you’ll always find yourself thinking you don’t know that much, when in reality you do, it’s just always changing and expanding”

That’s a Wrap

So, this was my first blog post, and it might have rambled on a bit, but glad I was able to give a bit of background, as well as reflect for myself on where I was, where I am now, and where I want to be.