Although I've learned a lot of useful skills on the job, I have also been developing as a person with the help of my colleagues and time spent outside of work.
Working as part of a small team of four has given me the opportunity to speak and be heard and for my ideas to accepted and integrated into the work dynamic. At first I was shy because I was new and I didn't want to be too pushy or put a foot wrong, but over the last 6 months at least, I've really gained some confidence in just saying what's on my mind and giving my opinion even if it is different to the group.
Being a female software developer is actually rare in the industry, so I already bring a fresh point of view by being different to my 3 male colleagues.
During university I volunteered with Technocamps to teach STEM workshops in schools, including teaching young girls that it is not just a "boy thing" to like Science, Technology, Engineering or Maths. You can find out more about Technocamps here (opens in new tab) but my experience really helped me build confidence in my ability to learn something myself and teach it to others. It was also really fun! One workshop we used Lego, one workshop we just used laptops and a little program called Scratch to make a little game. I was amazed that you could teach such a complex topic like coding to quite young kids! But at the end of the day it's just creative problem solving wrapped up in a technology bow.
More recently, with Transport for Wales, I volunteered at the November Careers Fair hosted at the University of South Wales Treforest campus. This was actually the university campus I attended during my studies so it was neat to come back as an alumni but also as a full-time employee for a business!
Funnily enough, I attended the USW Careers Fair in November 2022, in my final year of study, looking for job opportunities after I graduate. I just so happened to walk past the TfW table thinking "Oh neat, I take their trains to University, it's cool that they're here for the engineers" but then one of the staff members at the table was free so I quickly asked "hello, got any IT jobs going? Got a website that needs maintaining?" and to my surprise the staff member replied "Actually, we've got a brand new Software Development graduate role happening this year" and I was so excited!! Never thought I'd find my dream job straight out of university, I thought I'd have to find something else and work my way back around to website development later.
So I'm here today thanks to being brave and attending that careers fair and when I heard the call for volunteers in my graduate cohort to come and support the HR department in recruitment, I jumped at the chance! I agreed in advance but closer to the day, I almost couldn't make it but then I did manage to go and I am so so happy I had this opportunity.
Although it seems silly, I was super excited to be back and my body insinctively carried me back to my old uni building, but luckily the careers fair building was nearby!
I did a year of college before I went to university and I remember being asked to film a short promotional video about my college course and how it helped me develop the skills I needed for university. It was one of the adult learning Access courses and it did really help me get in to University of South Wales since part of the course was applying for university.
It is this course: Access to Applied Computing, Cardiff and Vale College (opens in new tab) and I am currently in the cover photo! Doesn't look like they got around to uploading the video unfortunately, but my uni course, BSc Computing, is one of the items listed as an example of what Higher Education you could do after the access course!
This was one of the first promotional items I was brave enough to attend and have my photo professionally taken.
On my graduation day in 2023, I filmed a small promotional video for my university course, BSc Computing, because I admitted I didn't know the course was available until I got to the open day and decided to pick it out of the options presented to me that day. I thought there was only Computer Science and ICT (which is also what most people think). The course leader and one of the lecturers filmed me and two of my fellow graduates (out of five of us) talking about the course and how many skills I learned to go out into the workplace. I have no idea where that video ended up, but I hope it is helpful to someone someday.
At Transport for Wales in 2024, there was a call for graduates to volunteer for promotional filming for the graduate scheme. Rather than HR and TfW Staff promoting it, they wanted to film the responses and opinions from real, current graduates and apprentices as part of the "Early Talent" side of the business. I volunteered but I felt a bit bad because my graduate position is very unique and my journey to TfW was not a straight path, but that was fine! TfW value my different path and unique skills! So I am really glad I pushed myself again to talk about the graduate scheme for HR to use as promotional material in the future.
While volunteering at the careers fair in November 2024, the USW social media team approached me to record some short promotional videos about my journey as a USW student to a full-time employee via the careers fair and careers department. I took the careers department very seriously when they visited my course in my 3rd year to help me prepare for the future. Apparently, that does pay off, but I just think I got lucky. I got the Careers department to help me re-write my CV so I could get a job related to my degree and not my previous career. They also helped me find the Technocamps volunteering opportunity above and last of all, I attended the Careers Fair and ended up as a graduate for a company I did not expect to have the type of role I was looking for!
After reading all that I just want to point out that: a. I hate having my photo taken, unless it's a selfie, I love taking those; b. I hate listening to my own voice recorded (doesn't everyone?) and c. I have anxiety and I think I come across as shy and cringy rather than the confident person you'd expect to be filmed!
But for some reason people keep asking me to do a piece to camera talking about my experiences, and I always agree?! I love helping people, so I always decide I can do it because maybe someone just like me can be helped by it? Helping others is always the reason why I volunteer despite my anxiety.
