An aspiring web developer who's passionate about solving tricky problems, good design and making stuff work.
Previously worked in book publishing, but left to pursue dream of working in a properly creative industry where I'm learning every day. I'm now convinced that a career in coding will meet these criteria, having spent the last three months building something new and exciting every week and being told repeatedly that I'll never be able to learn all there is to know about code!
I'm now looking for a development role where I can craft code that's clean, functional and beautiful, in an environment that encourages learning, communication and creativity.
Examples of skills developed while working on projects at Makers Academy.
| Project name | Skills developed |
|---|---|
| Rock, Paper, Scissors | The first program I wrote where I felt comfortable with OOD and was happy with my approach. |
| Instagram Challenge | Learned about RESTful Ruby on Rails applications and felt I really got to grips with relational databases with ActiveRecord. |
| Thermostat | First experience using JavaScript and linking to a Sinatra server. Getting comfortable with the uses of jQuery and working with JSON and API calls. |
| Store Front | AngularJS and responsive front-end applications, two-way data binding and services. |
| Pairing Matrix | Learned a lot about working as a team on a development project, Git workflow, merge conflicts and waffle. |
Four years experience working as a Production Controller in the publishing industry made me an excellent communicator - a skill that's incredibly important to any software developer. My day to day job involved:
- Explaining complex print processes clearly to colleagues; often those from other areas of the business who weren't familiar with the technical language
- Providing colleagues with a clear and concise overview of the progress of ongoing projects, and giving detailed instructions to suppliers
- Negotiating and managing the expectations of different departments with diplomacy
As a developer, the ability to communicate about ideas and complex code quickly and clearly to a colleague or a client, and being able to diplomatically handle disagreements or conflicts within a team are key skills. I've definitely felt their benefit while pair programming and taking part in team projects at Makers Academy.
The best part of my previous job was all the problem solving I had to do. I would often be given a complicated brief by an editor or designer, and it was my job to find the best way to bring those ideas to life. Here are some examples of problems I'm particularly proud of solving:
- Produced a book with 70 very old photographs reproduced in excellent quality and to the authors very precise specification. Required attention to detail, planning and research
- Managed production of a book that had a hole cut into the front case to reveal a watch face perfectly centered on the endpaper behind. It was an incredibly complex project that needed precision and a lot of prototyping!
- Responsible for a new colour management solution for a well known illustrator who was very particular about how colour would be reproduced when printed. I was able to look at the problem from a fresh perspective and had the confidence to try a new approach (as well as making good use of my negotiating skills)
I treat coding problems in the same way - I look at the key problems to be solved, work out what tools, resources or information are necessary to solve them, and can be objective and realistic about what's achievable in the given time frame.
I was responsible for delivery of 10+ new books per month for editorial teams in 4 different locations, produced at printing companies across 4 continents and delivering into over a dozen warehouse locations, so I'm very experienced in juggling different tasks, prioritising workload, working highly efficiently and meeting deadlines.
At Makers Academy I learnt how to learn quickly, independently and responsively. I was already curious about coding and had a passion for crafting beautiful products, and with my new learning superpowers I now have the confidence and ability to find elegant solutions to coding problems and tailor them to my needs, as well as to continue learning new technologies and approaches.
I've also learnt a lot of other things over the last 12 weeks, including;
- Best practices and key principles such as Object-Oriented Design, Test-Driven Development, SOLID
- How to craft and deliver clean, legible code by following Agile methodology, debugging and refactoring
- Technologies like Ruby, Rails, Javascript, Node.js, Angular.js
- Extensive testing using Rspec, Jasmine, Capybara, Karma, Protractor
- MA Book Publishing (Merit)
- BA History & Sociology (2:1)
- A Levels: Art (A), English Literature (A) and History (B)
- GCSEs: 3x A*, 7x A, 1x B
Bloomsbury Publishing (June 2014 - May 2015)
Colour Production Controller
Hachette Children's Books (September 2011 - June 2014)
Production Controller