How did you start working with us?

I am a former Maths teacher who made a career change to become a Software Engineer. I have an LLB in Law, BA in Business Administration (Finance), MA in Political Science and a Teacher Certificate. I moved to the UK 3.5 years ago from Israel. I did not know a lot about VML when I started working here, but I knew that they have a wide variety of clients, allowing me to have opportunities on different kinds of projects.

My experience as a Maths teacher taught me how to solve problems, work in a team and communicate. For the career change, I did a Bootcamp in General Assembly, where I got the basic tools in programming, and where I built my first projects, which were the core discussion in my Interview. Learning how an API works and creating a few APIs helped me as a Frontend Developer to understand how the backend works in our projects.

What have you learnt?

The most surprising thing was how senior developers do not have all the answers right away, and they need to investigate. As a junior, you can become the team specialist about a topic that no one ever dealt with, regardless of your general experience.

The biggest challenge can be changing from one project to another. You gain confidence on your account, but when you change it can feel like starting everything all over again. I’m told this gets easier! One of my proudest moments so far was when the team I was working on was reduced in size due to a change of phase from 8 to 2 developers and I was asked to be one of the 2 to stay. A real boost for my confidence for sure.

Why VML?

The best thing in my current role is independence. I have my tasks and the framework of time to finish them, and both my PO and I know that I will do my best to deliver them. I always have my team to ask questions, but in general, there is a feeling that I am trusted.

The social part is a bit tricky this year for obvious reasons. In my team, we have an online meeting once a fortnight on Thursday afternoon, which is just for socialising, not working. Before the shutdown, I played football once a week with a group of people from the company.

What gives you a buzz?

I love solving a problem. It doesn’t matter if it is related to work or not, but in general, to face a problem and find a solution that works, gives me that buzz. That and football!

Advice for new graduates

It is okay to make mistakes. All developers are doing them, and you learn from them.

The most important thing I got was a fantastic mentor that helped me in the first stages when you have very little clue what you are supposed to do when you got a new task. This might be the difference between a great start and losing yourself in a new role. It is all about the mentorship, have someone you can go to with no hesitation.