My career break started the same way most do, I started a family. What I also did was move countries. When the time came for my daughters to start school and I could return to the goals for my own life, I started looking at returning to my previous career in medicine.
Finding a career that works for me and my family
Prior to my career break, I was a French-trained medical doctor with a specialty in clinical biology and a masters in biological research. I managed a private French medical laboratory, in charge of a team delivering results to hospitals and GPs. Returning to this field in the UK was complex, I was required to embark on a multi-year, self-funded training programme that would require long hours, and night shifts and ultimately place me in a field that was not my interest. The work is rewarding, but with two young daughters, the level of commitment needed did not match the work/life balance that I was looking for so I had to look elsewhere.
I looked at the world around me and made note that everything and everyone is on a computerised device of one form or another. Even my previous field of medicine was becoming more and more enriched by the world of computer science and programming. I thought, why not be a part of this? I researched job opportunities in tech and discovered that demand is high, salaries are good, and there is great work flexibility and real diversity in what you can do.
I tested the waters with a series of beginner classes on Udemy before looking for a retraining bootcamp. I went with TechSwitch and they have been absolutely amazing. To start with, they didn’t require a massive upfront payment. The training was solid, rapid and covered a range of skills that were in high demand in the market. At the end of the course, they put you forward for jobs and support you through the interview process.
One week after the bootcamp finished, TechSwitch got me an interview with Angel Trains (my current employer) and I got the job! As a non-native English speaker, with a 13-year career break on my CV, and no previous work experience in the UK or in tech, I am extremely proud to have secured a rewarding job as a software developer.
Learning, growing, and thriving in my new tech career
The bootcamp provided a foundation. From that strong foothold, and with the support of my colleagues, manager and my mentors at TechSwitch, I have grown into a real ‘dev’. Computer Science is not a static domain. It is ever shifting with every day bringing new technologies and approaches. I am not only proud that I got this job but that I have been able to grow and evolve to meet the needs of it as it twists away from the basics that I had learned into the detail I need to deliver for the company.
I have become a regular on ‘StackOverflow’, continuing my training through online courses and workshopped with my colleagues around not just the pure coding aspect of the role but also the software lifecycle of delivering a capability to a user base.
The developer community has your back
Look for help when you need it. There are tons and tons of courses and documentation online for free and great communities around them. During your journey, you will sometimes hit a wall. Don’t worry, those wonderful communities will be there to help you. The developer community is huge, diverse, and extremely helpful. There are many forums where you can post questions, your colleagues are generally eager to help, and there are communities around the world that share this technical and creative interest in development who will also leap to your assistance.
Be open-minded and flexible towards change. It is very easy to get into a routine and people who have been in the job for a long time often don’t see what could be changed. Especially in the tech sector where technology is forever evolving and the ‘best way’ of doing something is sometimes no longer the ‘best way’ three years later, or even 3 days later in some cases. When something doesn’t feel optimal to you, voice it and propose a solution. Whether that be the use of a different technology, a methodology, or a disagreement between colleagues. Most processes can be improved, mistakes corrected, and disagreements cleared.
Perseverence is key
My advice for women looking to return to work or make a career change is to be prepared to commit the time to self-learn and have the perseverance to see it through.
Development is all about problem solving. You are being paid to solve puzzles, some of them are hard, or hard first time. Like all hard puzzles you can end up frustrated and disillusioned. Don’t give up! Talk to people. Perseverance is a key skill. As you get better, the problems you are given get harder. The experts I know still end up sitting looking at that wall wondering how to get through it. Their walls are bigger and thicker, but they are even more determined and better tooled. And the satisfaction when you beat that wall is great.
