Junior Software Developer
THE most incredible thing happened.. I got a job!! As the title of this blog post suggests, I am now officially a Junior Software Developer for a company in Brighton called Madgex. They make job board software for various huge names in the recruitment industry including The Guardian, Telegraph, Washington Post amongst many others.
The offer came as a huge surprise to me and my student advisers at The Learning People and Code Institute. The 'pathway' students on my course usually take is to complete all three modules, and then use the portfolio of work to go on to apply for jobs. One day whilst I was on a catch-up call with my adviser Stuart, he mentioned that I could technically start applying for junior roles now but obviously it would be a lot harder than if I waited until the end of the course. The natural curiosity in me was piqued - so I started looking for junior developer roles. The first job I stumbled across was for a Software developer at Madgex. Reading down the job description it immediately became clear that they needed someone with experience and technical know-how, something I was lacking at this time. However, I did not let this put me off. Reading about the amazing company ethos and awards for being in the Top 100 places to work in the UK (they came 20th!), I was determined to see whether they would take me on as a trainee developer.
They say if you don't ask, you don't get - well my application was the living embodiment of this. I emailed their HR department with a CV and a very transparent introduction explaining that I was new in this field and looking for training, and that I find training on-the-job to be the most immersive form of learning. To my amazement I was offered a telephone interview for a few days later.
After a successful telephone interview I was invited in for a face-to-face interview, with a technical test. I was petrified. Not only was I an inexperienced coder, but I had to learn two completely new coding languages that I hadn't seen before - in one week. Needless to say the technical test didn't go so well, but the interview panel liked my personality enough that they invited me back for a second technical test, but with more time to learn the material. Essentially they wanted to see what I could learn in a given time frame. Thankfully this second test went wonderfully, and proved that I would be able to pick up new information quickly. I was offered the job two days later!
I am so very grateful for the opportunity to train with such a talented group of developers - I am going to become a sponge in the next few months to soak up all the knowledge I can! I officially start at the end of this month, so I will be writing posts about my experience of starting off in the tech world as both a newbie and a female coder.