My Journey: Media Student to Developer

Sam — Sun, 02 Aug 2020 16:21:58 +0000

This is how I went from zero knowledge or interest in tech to stumbling across coding and development at University, falling in love with it, and how I secured a developer role after graduating with a degree in Digital Media.

University

I’d applied to university to become some weird hybrid animator/video editor/photoshop wizard. I ended up studying Digital Media at the University of Leeds which covered all those topics and more. I thought maybe I’d decide what I wanted to do after experiencing lots of topics, I was right but not in a way I expected!

My first exposure to web development was a module on Interface Design, and after that first workshop teaching HTML and CSS, needless to say, I was hooked. I spent my evenings powering through courses on Code Academy because I was so fascinated!

I took other modules about PHP, mySQLi and bits of JavaScript and an optional module from the Computing School where I learnt Python. I knew this was the path I wanted to go on but had no idea how.

I wasn’t studying Computer Science, or a science-based subject and all the internships I looked at had these as requirements. I knew I had to seek out other options to learn and gain experience!

Code First: Girls

Now if you don’t know what Code First: Girls do, check them out because they’re awesome and they were the foot on the ladder to get me where I am today!

I applied for a Code First: Girls course on Web Development in 2018 and, much to my surprise I was accepted on the course. We were taught by Developers from all kinds of backgrounds but what stuck with me the most was that the majority of them didn’t have a Computer Science degree, it was music to my ears, if they could do it then I could too!

Over 8 weeks we were taught all about front-end fundamentals and I got my first exposure to Git and Github. At the end of it was a bit of competition, we all presented sites we’d built using the knowledge from the course and my project was chosen at the winner! I knew I needed to use the momentum from this course and the win to get out there and get myself a placement or internship.

Internships

After many, and I mean many, rejections for internship positions and nearly giving up, I was offered a position as a Digital Learning Assistant at the University's Online Courses Department. I was beyond thrilled because I would be doing front-end development on custom learning interactives.

They didn't have another developer there for me to learn from so it was very much me saying yes to anything they threw at me and Googling my way to a solution! I taught myself lots while there, from using static site generators, to using SCSS for the first time, to writing my own build scripts for Node projects, to using the command line. While it wasn't the most exciting of jobs, I am very thankful for the opportunity it gave me to learn on the job!

Towards the end of this internship, I accepted a 4-week internship at Sky as part of their Software Engineering Academy. I was only there a short time but I had my first exposure to unit testing, Docker, Agile development and working in a development team.

Final Year and Job Hunting

I knew I wanted a technical role when I graduated so what better way to prove myself for this than a technical final project mashing together React, Machine Learning and Progressive Web Apps, you can read all about it here.

I also took up a job working as a teaching assistant for First Years on the same Interface Design module that first sparked my interest in coding!

I had my Code First: Girls certificate, experience from internships, teaching experience, a couple of personal projects under my belt and one hell of a cool final project to talk about. I was prepped and ready to apply for Development Graduate Schemes and jobs. I applied, passed the online tests, booked in for assessment centres and technical interviews.

Then an opportunity popped up, I was offered a place on Work in the Web 2020, a three-day workshop that Mixd runs for students who want to work in the web industry. Everyone was super friendly and I was really impressed by the team, so naturally, I jumped at the chance of an interview for a graduate position when it was mentioned!

I was offered multiple development positions and it came down to me choosing between NHS Digital and Mixd. In the end, I chose Mixd because I really liked the small team vibe they had going on and already meeting the team took out some of the worries I had about starting a new job!

That's the current point in my journey, I'm a few months into my role as a Graduate Developer at Mixd and I'm really enjoying it!

Takeaways

If there was one piece of advice I'd give to anyone who was like me, wanting to get into tech but worried about not having a Computer Science degree and take every opportunity you find, apply for everything even if you think you won't get it.

I never thought I'd get into Code First: Girls but I still applied and got a place.

I never thought I'd get accepted on a development internship but I applied anyway and got accepted on to two.

I didn't think I was good enough to help teach others code but I applied and I got it because I was good enough.

I didn't think I'd get a place on Work in the Web but I did, and from that, I got to apply for a job with Mixd.

But most of all, I never thought that as a non-technical graduate I'd be offered any development job nevermind that I'd be turning down job offers!

Don't give up, try not to second guess yourself, you never know what one opportunity can do for you.

Kerbit: The React PWA powered by Machine Learning

Sam — Fri, 22 May 2020 10:47:58 +0000

Update

This project was chosen out of thousands as one of the top 5 projects to be highlighted on the Git Remote Graduation Live Stream! You can check out the stream (and my twitter) here!

418 I’m a teapot

@samroebuck_

It was highlighted as one of the top 5 favourite projects out of the thousands submitted!

You can check the stream where they talk about my project here!

twitch.tv/videos/6515612…

17:36 PM - 15 Jun 2020

About me!

Hi, I'm Sam! I've just completed my final year at The University of Leeds studying Digital Media, I was first exposed to coding and development during my first year in an Interface Design module and have been hooked ever since!

I'm not usually one for sharing my projects because I'm a bit of a perfectionist/eternal worrier so I always see the fault in what I do but I'm trying to be more proud of my creations so here goes! (Be gentle)

My Final Project

Kerbit is a Progressive Web App built using React, that uses a custom trained image classification model, made using Google AutoML, to recognise recyclable materials and lets users know if they can be recycled and where they can be recycled. It can recognise household recyclables like cardboard and glasses, larger items like kitchen electrics and furniture, and more!

It is modelled for use in the UK city Leeds so the map data and recycling info is accurate for that location.

Demo Link

Head over to Kerbit.app to check the project out! You can view the website on desktop and if you are on a supported mobile device, you will be prompted to download the PWA!

If your device isn't supported or you just want to see Kerbit in action check out some demo screen recordings I've done!

Link to Code

Check out the code here!

samroebuck / kerbit

University final project

Kerbit

University final project

Aim - Use a custom image classification machine learning model, built using Google AutoML, to create a PWA that allow users to take a photo of items they wish to recycle and the model will predict what the item is/its material and whether it can be recycled, and which bin to put it in or take it to a recycling center. Currently only modelled to work in Leeds, UK.

View on GitHub

How I built it (what's the stack? did I run into issues or discover something new along the way?)

Tech used

React
SCSS
GoogleAutoML
Netlify

Additional Thoughts / Feelings / Stories

Coming from this I have huge respect for people that do the data collection and training in machine learning because wow you have to do a lot! In the end, the image classification isn't as accurate as I would have hoped it would be at the end but I'm proud of what I managed to achieve by myself coming into these technologies as a relative beginner.

DEV Community: Sam

My Journey: Media Student to Developer

University

Code First: Girls

Internships

Final Year and Job Hunting

Takeaways

Kerbit: The React PWA powered by Machine Learning

Update

About me!

My Final Project

Demo Link

Link to Code

samroebuck / kerbit

University final project

Kerbit

How I built it (what's the stack? did I run into issues or discover something new along the way?)

Additional Thoughts / Feelings / Stories