Joseph McNally CV

I am an aspiring developer with experience in Javascript and Ruby, having recently graduated from the Makers Academy coding bootcamp. I also have a masters degree in Astrophysics from Queen Mary University of London with first class honours. I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience I've had with coding so far due to the analytical approach similar to the experience I had during my degree with a huge feeling of satisfaction when developing a project of my own design. I feel I am ready to develop my skills further in this industry.

Projects

Name	Description	Tech Used
Pac-Man	A webapp game where users can play an imitation of the classic game Pac-Man. An extra feature involves a leaderboard of the top ten scores which players can see after playing	Javascript, HTML Canvas, React, Express, Node.js, Redis, Render, Jest, React Testing Library
EdUp	A webapp where parents can communicate with the school their children are attending. Features include a noticeboard, calendar, live chat rooms and payment system	Javascript, MERN stack, Render, Jest, React Testing Library
Acebook	A social media webapp where users can make posts, comment on posts and like posts. Each user also has their own profile page	Javascript, Node.js, Express, Mongoose, MongoDB, Render, Cypress, Jest

Skills

Agile Working

Practiced agile working during group projects of the Makers main course. When encountering a tough blocker with the login system during the final project (EdUp), I was able to work on other features, such as the noticeboard, in separate branches. These separate branches were then merged and were compatible with the login system once that blocker had been solved. A crucial part of this methodology was having regular meetings everyday to constantly communicate the direction we were going in.

Project Management

Gained experience leading a team during the EdUp project as the team leader role was rotated each day. I would direct the three daily team meetings when I was team leader, assigning people to specific roles on the project for that day. This was achieved while making sure everyone got to have their say and a good team atmosphere was maintained throughout. This also displayed my skills in empathy to listen to my colleagues.

Communication and Presenting

Constantly working with people during pair programming and group projects throughout the Makers course has required great communication between myself and my colleagues. I also presented the EdUp project along with my team on our demo day. With an audience watching in Zoom, including potential employers and Makers coaches, I explained the teams ways of working as well as the noticeboard and QR code features of our app during the demo video. Click here to see the demo.

Work Experience

Supermarket Assistant, Waitrose & Partners (October 2018 - April 2021)

Developed my communication skills when dealing with some of the most difficult customers in the cafe and bakery section to ensure they would return after having a good experience
Honed my teamwork skills in order to coordinate with my colleagues as we would have to adapt throughout the day which ensured a calm working environment for everyone
Showed a great attention to detail when checking dates on every item of stock for multiple sections for reductions which reduced waste
Displayed my creativity when creating a new method for offsales (scanning out of stock items to order more) for the bakery
- This involved going through every item and meticulously counting how many of each we had before updating the amount on the system
- The system then calculates a percentage of how accurate it thinks you were when offsaling
- I was the first person to achieve a score of 100% in our branch using this method
- After sharing this with my colleagues, their scores improved too and our branch was consistently in the top 5 scores for our region which gained me recognition from the regional manager
Showed my ability to adapt and handle multiple responsibilities by working in all areas of the branch (Bakery, Checkouts, Stock, Welcome Desk)
Displayed my ability to train and support new partners by sharing my knowledge when teaching them shop responsibilities which helped maintain standards

Education

Software Development Bootcamp, Makers Academy (February 2022 - June 2022)

Used good communication skills when pair programming with different people everyday to discuss and explain new concepts being learnt, whilst always applying TDD and OOP
Used agile methodologies to create productive and efficient working environments in group projects
Gained leadership experience by leading team meetings and allocating tasks during the final project
Honed my self teaching skills to learn new technologies during independent learning and weekend challenges (e.g. ActiveRecord, React)
Showed that I can efficiently learn a new language by translating what I had learnt in Ruby over to a new language when learning Javascript
Showed empathy when becoming a mentor to a student on one of the more recent cohorts by understanding I was at the same position they were in not long before

Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python, edX (June 2020 - August 2020)

Achieved a passing grade with 98% in this online module
I had the opportunity to learn Classes, Objects, Functions, Exceptions and Assertions, Plotting and Algorithms over the course of seven weeks with plenty of practice questions as well as a midterm and final exam
I further developed my problem solving skills that I had demonstrated throughout my university degree but with more experience in coding

MSci Astrophysics, Queen Mary University Of London, First Class Honours (September 2014 - June 2018)

During second year, achieved a first in the module "Introduction to C++ Programming"
- Programmed a simulation of particles colliding in a box
Developed strong analytical skills when problem solving weekly coursework in a variety of topics including Thermodynamics, Cosmology, Quantum mechanics and General Relativity
Strong teamwork and communication skills were required when working with peers in order to explain complex concepts in physics
Gained project management skills when writing my dissertation on "Large Scale Structure of the Universe" while running simulations in Gadget Programming to view the evolution of structure for different universes that contain differing amounts of visible matter, dark matter, radiation and dark energy

Hobbies and Interests