From coding for fun to coding for 190 countries
I'd always enjoyed programming, so I started my career by studying Computer Science at Monash University, specialising in advanced computer science. This not only allowed me to gain a fundamental understanding of the style of thinking I would need to be a developer, but also gave me access to their Industry Based Learning internship program.
From there, I interned at NAB as a Software Engineer, which helped teach me how to transform what I learnt in university into skills applicable to developing code in a professional environment.
After graduating university, I moved on to PageUp as a Graduate Developer. As a graduate, I was able to grow my skillset in a way I couldn't as an intern, taking on more responsibilities with the support of my team.
This finally lead me to my current role as a Developer, where I continue the work I started as a graduate!
I maintain and improve the core part of our system
My role involves looking after the main core of the system, which is built on a variety of technologies.
Primarily, I'll work on implementing new features, which lets me solve problems in many different languages and platforms. The breadth of content I look at helps keep the work entertainment!
The other part of my role involves working on bugs that get reported. This is the more investigative side of what I do, where the majority of the effort here is finding the problem, rather than fixing it. Since this uses a different skillset to coding, it's a refreshing change of pace from developer work.
Learning and trying new things in a wide range of environments
I've mentioned previously how I enjoy the variety of technologies used in my role, but the most important part is how much I can learn using these different things. This was especially true as a fresh grad, where I didn't have any practical knowledge, since I was able to pick up a huge amount of knowledge very quickly.
Learning new things is crucial when looking to advance your career, so learning how to learn is a phenomenal thing to pick up early on.
Finally, getting to try new things regularly helps both my learning, as well as keeps my job entertaining.
You're expected to learn on the job, not already know everything
Don't stress about needing to know everything going into a role. The biggest thing you can have is the desire to learn! There will always be something you don't know, since the field we're in is constantly evolving. The stuff that doesn't change is what you should focus on, since they'll always be useful.
For example, learning how to learn and communication skills are all things that you can learn at university and apply to any role. But as for implementation specific skills (like a particular language), you'll pick it up on the job. As a graduate / early developer, the most important thing you can do is want to learn, and everything else comes with it!
