Projects | Skills | Education | Experience
I am a recent graduate from an intensive programming bootcamp at Makers Academy in London, where there is a focus on test driven development, object oriented programming and agile processes. I took the leap to become a developer as I had found a real interest in software after a couple of friends and I began developing an app to help vegetarians find food easily around London. In doing this I had got a taste for the challenges developers face and am keen to develop my problem solving skills in a creative way to build commercially used applications.
| Title | Description | Development Timeframe | Technologies Used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank Tech Test | During the third final week at Makers we were given tech tests to create an application using the best possible practices in a limited timeframe | 3 days | Ruby, RSpec |
| vBook | A clone of facebook using Ruby on Rails, a software that was completely new to us. In the second week we had change a lot of our code as the client decided React should be integrated in the project. | 2 weeks | Ruby on Rails, HTML/CSS (including some Bootstrap), JavaScript, Heroku, React, RSpec, Capybara, Travis |
| Paddlr | This was our final project at Makers. A ping-pong scoring/leaderboard web app. I worked on the frontend where I gained experience in React and writing feature tests with Cypress. | 2 weeks | Node.js, Express, MongoDB, React, Cypress |
| Thermostat | In week 5 at Makers we were introduced to Javascript by creating a front-end thermostat web application. We continued using TDD practices and introduced interactive functionality using Jquery. | 3 days | Javascript, Jasmine, Jquery |
I believe that a productive team is one that can maintain the ability to work through the highs and the lows.
For my second group project at Makers (creating a Facebook clone), we decided that the purpose of the 2 weeks was to learn and to try to use new technologies. Morale fluctuated as we underestimated how difficult it would be to wrestle with these tech stacks. Running daily standups and retros, I ensured that our group kept our eyes on the objective we set when we started — our moods always improved coming out of them as we could see our progress even after particularly slow days. I believe this helped us to keep focus of what we wanted out of the project whilst maintaining good group cohesion.
Communication has been a key skill required to succeed at Makers as there is a focus on pair programming, encouraging collaboration. Previously, when I was working as a client support agent, I was frequently on the phone to customers, and when I was volunteering in Cambodia I had to break down cultural and language barriers to convey my ideas.
- When working in Cambodia I would ensure everyone engaged in conversations so I could see everyone had a solid understanding of the tasks at hand.
- I ran team meetings where I showed enthusiasm to keep the team engaged, leading to active discussions and maintaining focus in the heat.
- I actively pursued learning Khmer to improve relationships within the team although it was not required is I could appreciate the importance of making an effort with my counterparts, not relying on them to speak my language.
- I dealt with customer queries and assisted them in managing their finances at Hargreaves Lansdown, ensuring the customer had fully understood the risk with their investments.
Makers has taught me many values, primarily how to test-drive my code. I am always aiming to widen my toolset by using unfamiliar languages or frameworks and have no fear of tackling new technologies due to the speed of progression at Makers. At Makers I learned:
- Languages: Ruby, JavaScript, jQuery, HTML/CSS, React
- Web Frameworks: Sinatra, Ruby on Rails, node.js
- Databases: PostgreSQL, Firebase, MongoDB
- Testing Suites: RSpec, Capybara, Selenium-Webdriver, Jasmine, Cypress
- CI/CD: Travis CI, Heroku
- Bachelor of Engineering, Civil
- Research Project Title: Surface Water Drainage for Urban Hillside Communities in Developing Countries
PA Disco Hire (May 2016 to May 2018)
Head of Operations
VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) (February 2016 to May 2016)
Volunteer (Working to promote inclusive education in Cambodia)
Hargreaves Lansdown (February 2015 to July 2015)
Client Support Agent