From Sales to Software Engineering: How BGL opened the door and transformed my career
Before joining BGL Tech in February 2017, I worked as a Sales Representative selling mobile phones. I had a passion for technology, but this passion had bloomed a little late. I was already a few years out of university (with a degree that wasn’t related) and thought I’d missed my chance to switch careers.
In my retail role, I was at the top of my game. I was smashing sales targets and practically running the store, but no matter how well I performed, I was unhappy and bored. My work presented no challenge to me and having no real experience in any other field, I was stuck…
…Or so I thought. One day, a friend of mine who worked at BGL advised me to apply for the role of Junior Software Engineer. No experience was required and full training was provided. At first I was sceptical… this seemed way too good to be true. I was interested in tech, but nobody offered schemes like this, to people with literally no tech background. I’d never seen or written a line of code in my life. There had to be a catch, right?
Wrong! I soon applied for the role and following a successful interview and aptitude test, I was given the news that I was successful and would be joining BGL’s Academy.
For the first 12 weeks, myself and the other successful candidates were taught the basics of RPG (the programming language, not the gaming kind!) and how we could apply this to business logic by two of BGL’s Senior Software Engineers. Following this, I was assigned to one of BGL’s Commercial Software Delivery teams, where I soon gained the experience and confidence I needed to be able to produce software on my own, as well as part of the team.
Almost two years have passed since then and they have been the best working years of my life (even if they haven’t been the easiest). Every day, I’m offered a different challenge. I’m encouraged to learn, grown and experiment in an environment that’s focused on quality and delivery, with the customer at its core.
Through my role, I’ve been able to witness how our culture adapts as technology evolves and I’m excited to be part of the journey, wherever the future takes us.
One thing I can say for sure is I’m definitely not bored anymore!
