Working mum in tech: from healthcare to software engineering.
Joanne’s career change from healthcare to tech as a working mum, and her CFGdegree experience.
Code First Girls Ambassador Joanne Monaghan shares how she navigated her career change as a mother who has worked for almost 10 years in optics to software engineering – a change she made through the Software CFGdegree. Now a Software Engineer @ BBC, Joanne shares what motivated her to pursue a tech career and her overall learning experience on the CFGdegree.
She also shares the key challenges she faced during her career change, how the CFGdegree prepared her for her first tech job, how she manages her work-life balance as a working mum, and reflects on her transferable skills from healthcare to coding. For more of Joanne’s journey, connect with her on LinkedIn!
THE HOT SIX QUICK FIRE QUESTIONS!
What is your favourite coding language?
JavaScript
What is your comfort food?
Ramen
What is your favourite flower?
Peony
What is your favourite activity to do to unwind after a long day at work?
I’m trying to paint and read more to relax so I avoid scrolling on my phone!
What do you listen to whilst you code and where? Spotify, radio, vinyl or fave CD?
Normally something lo-fi so I’m not distracted and I’m back on Spotify now because their music suggestions introduce me to lots of great new artists!
Hi Joanne! please introduce yourself
I am a mother of two and I started my journey into tech during maternity leave. I had no real prior experience before doing the CFGdegree other than a few online courses. After completing the CFGdegree, I applied to the graduate scheme at the BBC which is where I work now! I wanted to become an Ambassador to show that it is possible to change careers into tech and how brilliant and flexible this sector is for mothers and working families.
You worked in Optics for almost 10 years! Can you please share how you got into tech and what were your influences along the way?
While I was on maternity leave I knew I wanted to change careers but I had no idea what to do, or even which industry to look at. What I did know was that I wanted a flexible hybrid or remote role for a better work life balance, and something that could be challenging with the potential for progression.
My husband and some of my friends actually suggested that I look into this field as I’m a logical and creative person and they thought it could be a good fit. So I took a few online courses and started researching software bootcamps. I came across CFG and I chose to apply because it was an evening course which meant I could more easily work around our childcare needs without paying nursery fees! This was a big advantage for me and made the bootcamp much more accessible than it would otherwise be.
What I didn’t realise at that point was just how brilliant the community is! After I finished the course all the other fabulous ladies on my course greatly influenced my success. Their support and enthusiasm really propelled me to try my best and apply for roles.
Did you encounter any challenges or uncertainties whilst transitioning into a career in tech? How did you overcome them?
One of my biggest challenges is imposter syndrome and it still is. I still feel like I got lucky somehow, even though I know logically I deserve my job! What makes this harder, is that I can’t simply combat this by using my evenings and weekends to research and learn outside of my job like some other people with fewer responsibilities could and dealing with tiredness and illness that comes with having young children is tough too. So I really have to maximise my time, look after my mental health and use all the tools and take all the advice. I try to work smarter, not harder and I won’t spend days looking and code to find a solution before I ask for help or guidance.
I also find talking to other people in a similar situation really helps, and normally they feel exactly the same!Talking things through whether it’s a personal or a software problem always helps I find.
My work-life balance is all about planning and not taking on too much. I try to make sure that I have time to take care of our children but also to look after myself.
What impact did taking part in the CFG MOOC have on your career change to tech?
The DevOps MOOC gave me a great insight into docker, which is very important in many tech companies.
Congratulations on completing the Summer ‘22 Full Stack Development CFGdegree! Could you share what drew you to apply to this specific specialisation?
I wasn’t sure which direction I wanted to go down (I still don’t!). I chose this pathway as it gave me experience of the full breadth of software from data to React and in general I love the idea of being able to make a full application backend to front end.
Could you share your overall experiences studying the CFGdegree, and how you balanced family responsibilities with the demands of the course?
The CFGdegree has been the most challenging and rewarding thing I have ever done, aside from becoming a mother. During my CFGdegree, my youngest daughter was 18 months old and it was really challenging to find time to dedicate to learning. I had to ask for help and allocate days, especially around my project deadline or for the exams where someone else would have the responsibility for childcare. I also asked questions and talked through my code with a more experienced developer when I got stuck or confused. This meant I could maximise my time learning rather than get stuck on something simple like a syntax error.
Are there any key differences you have felt since starting your new career/since your career change?
Changing careers has been life changing for me, I still can’t quite comprehend my achievement. But for the first time, I’m in a a role where I feel challenged, empowered and valued.
Were there any skills or experiences from healthcare that you found surprisingly applicable to software engineering?
I didn’t fully expect my empathy and communication skills to be so important. It’s a skill that is missing in much of the tech, and I actually made a difference to my first team by bringing up issues and talking about them in constructive ways to improve how we worked.
Could you share a bit about how you settled into the role as a Software Engineer at BBC, following the completion of the CFGdegree?
Starting at the BBC has certainly been nerve-wracking! I still find it hard to shake off my imposter syndrome! Fortunately, because I’ve started in a graduate scheme I get to rotate through different teams and learn different tech stacks which has been brilliant and is excellent experience. When I was preparing for my application and interview, the CFG network and community were really beneficial. One of my fellow students suggested the scheme to me and I had others recommend people to get in contact with.
For the first time, I'm in a role where I feel challenged, empowered, and valued.
Could you share some insights into how you manage work-life balance as a mother working in the tech field?
For me, managing my work-life balance is all about planning and not taking on too much. I try to make sure that I have time to take care of our children but also to look after myself. I know if I don’t put time for myself, whether that’s self care or time with friends then I won’t prioritise it. I work carefully with my husband to work as team, and sometimes that means saying no to things to make sure we aren’t taking too much on. Work-life balance and having time for our family is really important to us, and having flexible, hybrid jobs in tech has given us that.
What advice would you give to other individuals, or working parents who would like to transition into tech?
Try some online courses and make some small projects before committing to a bootcamp. You won’t regret the extra experience. Give yourself plenty of time to learn, and take all the help you can get!
