After beginning my official journey into Software Development a year ago and accepting my first Junior Software Engineer contract nearly nine months ago I decided it was finally time to write a piece about my journey, the decisions made and how I believe it’s the gateway to creating an accessible, inclusive world.
To understand my thoughts on this you must first understand a little about me. I’ve been dealing with chronic pain since 2013, after pursuing studies in finance my condition worsened until, at the end of 2016, I was unable to continue studies or part-time employment. I’ve always been passionate about politics, finance and built social systems (exciting I know!). When I became homebound, seeking medical help and relying on dysfunctional social safety nets I found myself engaging in discussions with local, state and federal representatives in all parts of the system. I also found myself constantly disappointed with how little importance was placed on myself and other disabled people.
It became more obvious the physical world is made up of such archaic systems that are so difficult to change because they’ve become so ingrained in our society, laws, culture and architecture. We should continue to fight to make the physical world accessible and inclusive, but we must be prepared for slow progress and sometimes unfortunate levels of compromise.
As I began to rely more on the internet for communication, services, entertainment and community I realised that this was a system individuals could control. I didn’t need to worry about systems not ‘having me in mind’ because they could be created. The internet, whilst large, evolves so quickly that we should endeavour to immediately improve or drop any system that doesn’t provide perfect accessibility. I realised in the giant behemoth of societal systems this was a series of systems I had the ability to influence and improve.
“The internet, whilst large, evolves so quickly that we should endeavour to immediately improve or drop any system that doesn’t provide perfect accessibility.”
I couldn’t tell you the exact date I decided software development was for me. Like many can, I can’t point to a machine or a segment of code and tell you how it blew my mind, how I believed it was ‘magic’. Rather it was an evolution of thought over time.
With all this in mind, what steps did I take to actually become an employed Junior Software Engineer?
First, my idea of what constituted a ‘Developer’ was vague and I knew I had to understand what each role actually did. CodeNewbies and AskProgramming on Reddit provided me a community to ask questions. I soon realised that Website Development had diverse applications, was in high demand and allowed you to get going quickly. Not only that, but in my mind, the internet was the most accessible system in the world. I knew I wanted to help with that.
Looking at any resource it quickly became apparent I needed to know at least three things HTML, CSS and Javascript. From there every moment I was feeling capable I spent on FreeCodeCamp quickly learning the essentials of front-end development. Using FCC I was soon creating simple portfolio pages, javascript games, learning how to interact with APIs along with countless of other projects. Everyday my mind, trapped in a body society had deemed economically useless, was able to create something new.
“Everyday my mind, trapped in a body society had deemed economically useless, was able to create something new.”
At this point I decided whilst I was learning independently I really wanted a cohort to learn alongside, I wanted to break the insulated bubble I had been learning in, I wanted to discuss ideas and have my own challenged. Twitter’s 280 characters could only help me achieve so much. It didn’t take a lot of research to come across Coder Academy. They seemed perfect — a new school in Brisbane teaching me everything I needed to get into the industry plus a guaranteed one month internship.
I excitedly sent off an application before reality quickly hit me. I still wasn’t healthy. I wouldn’t be able to physically attend a school everyday. What about the internship? I certainly couldn’t travel to an office EVERY single day for a month. It began to hit me. Software Development like any other industry is still just an industry. At the time I was in a great deal of distress. But looking back now I can’t help but laugh; I was just so wrong.
Coder Academy responded making it clear in their application process they were willing to accommodate any needs. These words were quickly put into action. Their teaching and administration staff provided any accessibility needs I could name and allowed me to often work from home when health became an issue.
Coder Academy filled my mind with technical knowledge and over the course of just six months I found myself able to work in half a dozen languages, libraries and frameworks. They discussed the importance of networking, growth mindset, how to fight imposter syndrome and how to work in a team. But the more they taught us about the industry the more I realised how little I knew. My worries of 100-hours in the office for an unethical bottom line definitely found plenty of examples to feed them. But they were quickly pushed to the back of my mind as I discovered the large shift away from corporate offices to remote work and a shift away from artificial perks to actual employee fulfilment.
So Coder Academy gave me the technical knowledge to program and reinforced the reasons I believed tech could be accessible. All that was left was to find a company I wanted to intern with (and wanted me to intern with them) and of course find a job.
Twitter became a brilliant platform to engage with other developers and when health allowed local meetups became a haven of learning and pizza. Whilst I absorbed all the technical topics it was, what is often referred to as, ‘soft skill’ talks and tweets that I believed and still believe hold the most value for my own learning. Not only could I apply the rules to become a better developer and person it showed me which people and companies valued ethics and progress first.
Work180 instantly jumped out as a company that built itself on creating change, prided itself on achieving equality and relied on an inclusive workforce. I had seen a couple of their employees discuss brilliant topics at meetups like web accessibility, industry inequality and the need for inclusive practices. Before I knew what Work180 did I knew these were people who truly believed in change. I quickly found out Work180 was working to end discrimination in the workplace through providing job candidates with a jobs board that prescreens employers on a long list of criteria including paid parental leave, equal pay and equal opportunities to name a few.
I approached them in May last year and on June 1st 2018 I began my first job working remotely as a Junior Software Engineer for them where I have stayed since. Work180 every day continues to reinforce that I’ve made the right choice. During my time I’ve worked with new technologies and I’m consistently being challenged to solve new problems. I’ve been part of a team that genuinely cares about making the world more accessible.
Most importantly, I’ve been part of a team that through software development has actively benefited society, all from my home.
P.S -
I don’t think I could list every single person I idolised during this period and rightfully so. The Brisbane tech scene has brilliant individuals hiding everywhere. However a few of them can be found on Brisbane’s Top Ten Women in Tech, the rest can nearly always be found at Brisbane Tech Newbies, BrisJS and of course Coder Academy.
