I've always had a very inquisitive mind. I love learning new things, creating things, figuring out how things work, why problems have happened and how they can be fixed. It's what drew me to study science, and the fascinating world of microbiology, at university. While there, a friend introduced me to Linux and the Ubuntu OS. My laptop at the time was old and struggling a bit with certain tasks. Installing Ubuntu, and learning to play around with the command line, gave it a new lease of life and sparked my curiosity.
Fast-forward a number of years to a career in quality control (QC) labs. I was continually finding ways to improve how we were tracking tasks, schedules, sharing 'tribal' information, etc.
- I learned how to get the most out of Excel with formulas, macros, a little bit of VBA - removing the need for manually copying the same information multiple times into different sheets, reducing the risk of human-induced errors, simplifying the process of editing/updating information and reports; simplifying tracking tasks and schedules, using the raw data to identify areas that needed improvement; performing analysis on raw data.
- I learned how to work with MS Sharepoint-MS Teams ecosystem for file sharing, scheduling, creating controlled access and permissions for different users, automating notifications and emails, creating user interface webpages.
During part of this time I was working a 24/7 rotating shift. The hours were long, night shifts were tough on the body and sleep schedule but, the downtime gave me the opportunity to explore my interest in computers and technology. I signed up to do a postgraduate course in Software Development. I learned about computer architecture, databases, web development, networking, Java, Javascript, Typescript, HTML, CSS. I learned lots of new, interesting things.
My career in QC continued, I was predominately analysing data, writing technical documents and managing projects.
- I learned how to use JMP statistical software to clean raw data imported from excel - remove duplicates,blanks etc, fix typos so information was properly categorised, concatenate data to create new columns etc; create simply JMP scripts to manipulate the data more efficiently and effectively.
- I learned how to use MS Project.
I took a career break for personal reasons. During my time off I've taken time to revisit coding and technical writing:
- I've taking some online courses.
- I've built a simple portfolio site.
- I've built some projects to practice the things I've been learning.
- I've contributed to some open source documentation.
My natural curiosity drew me to science, my education in the sciences taught me to think in a certain way, to solve problems in a structured manner, to observe, document, learn, improve. My journey into the world of coding added a new dimension to the way I think, create, solve problems, communicate information. Each step along the way has added to my strengths and abilities. I love , solving problems, creating things, looking at data, breaking down complex concepts into simpler, accessible, user-friendly documentation.
I'm excited to see what my next role will be.
Top comments (0)