Melissa has been at Ophelos for almost 3 years - as one of the earliest Ophelos joiners she’s made a huge impact on our journey so far and is now a Senior Software Engineer & Team Lead. Here are some of the questions we shared with Mel as part of our IWD X Ophelos spotlight series.
What do you like most about your job?
I really enjoy the problem-solving element of coding - there are always new challenges and new complexities to wrap your head around. I’m also really enjoying the complexities of my new role as a Lead. It’s very rewarding to support my team - looking at their goals and helping them progress.
How did you get to where you are now career-wise?
I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I finished school so I chose a university degree that would give me different options (Engineering). After graduating from university, I started out as a project-based Data Analyst at a consultancy. I learned about automations and some basics of what you could use code for, which began to spark my interest in software engineering. Excitingly, I got the opportunity to move into a brand new Software Engineering team - it was quite an inexperienced team which meant that we got to really immerse ourselves in coding and had to self-teach quickly.
After a couple more years at the consultancy, I was ready for a new challenge which is when I joined Ophelos. Being part of a product-led, start-up has given me the opportunity to work with really talented Engineers in lots of different areas. As part of my development I also started some leadership training and getting involved in leading projects, bringing me to where I am now managing the CX squad and Engineers across the business.
What are the most difficult things about your job?
Time management for sure. People think that you just spend time coding but there are so many other parts - from innovation to stakeholder management and lots of translating what we’re doing in Engineering to non-technical teams.
What would your advice be to women thinking about becoming SWEs?
Just do it. It’s a profession where there really aren’t any mandatory qualifications or skills - you just need to be interested, able to learn and have a really open mindset.
There's a big perception that engineering is very exclusive when actually it's one of the careers most supporting of different types of diversity and lifestyles.
I think there is a big barrier for women from the stereotype that an engineer is someone who is coding all the time. This definitely isn’t true for me. I love my work but I also like the work/life balance it gives me to explore other activities.
What do you like to do when you’re out of work?
I do a lot of stuff really. I read a lot - you could say I am slightly obsessed with books (I actually have a collection of special editions)!
