“Scio me nihil scire - I know that I know nothing,” said Plato of Socrates.
It’s a saying I’m sure anyone who - like me - has decided to make a career change, will relate to. It can be strenuous, yet rewarding, as I discovered on my journey into software engineering at Goodlord.
I’m a 28-year-old self-taught developer who started learning about programming roughly two years ago.
As a teenager, I spent a significant amount of my free time playing computer games and developing some simple ones of my own. Although I studied four years of Computer Science in high school - where I learned plenty of useful fundamentals, even if some of the technology was outdated (FoxPro, anyone?) - I went on to study Finance at university.
Even though I enjoyed aspects of Finance, there was always a “what if?” at the back of my mind. So when I received a Google scholarship for an online Android programming course on Udacity, I jumped right in. I left my role as a Research Analyst and dedicated myself almost entirely this course. But I did need a source of income, so I started working as a temp in the Referencing department at Goodlord.
Right from the get-go, I found the environment to be one that encouraged autonomy, personal development, inclusivity, and transparency , and the work challenging. When the end of my course approached, I started thinking about finding a role where I could put my newfound skills to good use. With the help of the Head of Referencing, I got to plead my case to our CTO, Donovan, who took a chance by offering me a junior role in the Engineering team.
The transition from writing code for personal and course projects to writing production code was challenging at first. But I could throw myself in at the deep end knowing I had the support around me to ask for help. Regular one-to-ones, personal objectives, pair programming and mentorship helped me ramp up my skills exponentially. Socrates got it right - we should never be afraid to admit what we don’t know. There’s always more to learn.
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Oh Goodlord Limited is an Appointed Representative of Goodlord Protect Limited for general insurance products and credit broking. Goodlord Protect Limited is directly authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, registration number 836727. You can check this information on the Financial Services Register by visiting www.fca.org.uk/register or by telephoning 0800 111 6768 (Freephone) or 0300 500 8082 from the UK. The FCA is the independent watchdog that regulates financial services.