Hannah Penn moved into Media Supervisor

During the pandemic, the volume and complexity of my work with university students as a Student Support Officer dramatically increased. Although the work was very rewarding, it was simply not sustainable. I thought carefully about my options and learned a little about programming on my own initiative, and following discussions with friends who had also changed careers into tech I realised that it was possible for me too and that I already had a strong foundation for the kinds of challenges the traineeship would bring. Progression was very limited in my previous role and the flexibility and potential that I saw in tech careers were also very appealing. The IT Career Switch course being self-directed was a great bonus as it meant I had time for temporary work and to focus on other interests alongside studying.

Diving into a coding course with no prior experience taught me to think in a totally different way from what I was used to. It was very interesting to learn about computing concepts I had never heard of before, and I particularly enjoyed the data science module, but getting programs to run successfully is always really satisfying too! I learned a huge amount right from the start, and even though the course was a challenge at times, completing the two portfolio projects at the end of the course felt like a real achievement.

I have been working as a Junior Developer in the Technical Development Team at Impellus since June 2022, where I maintain and develop the website and business centre using WordPress, Laravel and Magentrix, and respond to user issues with all our platforms and create solutions using SalesForce and other tools. I also get involved in larger-scale projects and consult on changes to existing processes.