At school I studied A levels in maths and physics and was the only female in those classes which I think deterred me initially from a career in engineering. My early career was spent teaching English after studying it at university, and this took me all over the world to Chile, Peru and Canada.
As my career progressed to becoming an Assistant Director of a language school, I saw that the integration of technology into teaching and education was becoming more apparent, and this reignited an interest in STEM. The turning point for me was in January 2023 after I broke my arm from a snowboarding incident. This marked ten years of teaching, so I was ready for a change of direction. At the time Version 1 was running its Digital Academy in the North East, I saw the opportunity this opened up for a career in technology and went through the application and screening process. Four interviews including timed psychometric tests were very tricky with my dominant hand in a cast! But I persevered and was successful in my application – entering Version 1 and transitioning into the role of DevOps Engineer as one of six women in a cohort of 18.
Within four months of joining Version 1, I was appointed the Women in Tech lead for Newcastle and I joined my first project as Tech Lead among 14 other engineers on a £3m project. I thoroughly enjoy the responsibility that comes with this and it’s a priority for me to encourage more people into STEM areas.
I try to be a role model and inspiration for the next generation so that they may be more encouraged than I was at school to explore the rich opportunities that a career in tech can bring. For me also, being involved in this progressive industry, helping to establish the North East as a technology hub, is exciting and we can leverage the rich and diverse talent pool that it offers.
Success is largely attributed to resilience, hard work and optimism. Soft skills are as important as technical skills if not more so – it’s easy to be deterred from taking a career switch if you focus on the latter – shush that imposter syndrome and go for it!
