Engineering Profile: Meet Andrew
Meet Andrew, one of our Software Engineers at SafetyCulture who has transitioned across multiple careers. Andrew was a Graphic Designer who specialised in corporate branding and then endeavoured into UI/UX design and now into Software Engineering.
Andrew loves anything and everything science-fiction. His hobbies include researching parts for his next PC build, airbrushing and building Gundam models. He is also an avid gamer — mostly playing RPG computer games for the stories.
When did you join SafetyCulture?
I joined SafetyCulture as an intern in March 2021 and have been having the time of my life here since.
You’ve had an interesting journey getting into Tech, can you tell us about what that has been like so far?
I can honestly say that transitioning from Design to Tech has changed my life for the better. During my studies, there were lots of challenges resulting in many late nights trying to understand coding concepts, programming syntax, computer science fundamentals and building projects. However, I have and forever will cherish every moment that I have had to code and learn. Without exaggeration, software engineering is fun and I’m having the time of my life.
As I try not to sound too cheesy and romanticise it all; getting into tech has allowed me to take everything I love about building things and playing games into the real world. The syntax used in programming languages are like pieces of Lego. As you piece together syntax you are essentially building something bigger — the only difference is, a piece of Lego is a lot easier to understand. On top of this analogy, similar to gaining experience points completing quests in a role-playing game, you get real life experience points from all the lines of code you write, the bugs you fix, the features you design and the projects you build. You really do feel like you are improving and growing (levelling up) every day.
Finally, I feel like being a Software Engineer is an extremely creative profession. I would go as far as saying that I feel more creative now as a Software Engineer than I did as a Graphic Designer.
Can you tell us about your internship experience at SafetyCulture? What were your biggest challenges, learnings and takeaways?
My ultimate challenge was myself. Imposter syndrome is real, but as long as you’re aware of it and remain focused on your own growth as a developer, it’ll only be fleeting.
I was surrounded by seasoned professionals who were experts in their field. Compared to them, I knew nothing and was completely out of my comfort zone. This became very apparent when I saw the codebase for the first time and I was completely overwhelmed. With that said, I was fortunate to be part of an amazing and supportive team and company during my internship. I was encouraged to own being a junior and focus not on where I was in my journey but instead on where I wanted to be and the developer I wanted to grow into.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
What are some things you enjoy about SafetyCulture?
What I enjoy most about SafetyCulture is the fact that I get to work on technology that could potentially save lives or at the least help manage high-risk workplaces to prevent incidents or risks.
I love the focus on people and culture; we’re really well taken care of as individuals and we are encouraged to be ourselves and have a voice. I also really love the team I am in. We’re the Mobile Experience team, and our mission is to lead both mobile platforms into the future. We’re at the forefront of the next generation of the iAuditor mobile platforms and it’s an exciting place to be.
I also enjoy the fully stocked fridges, snack bars on each floor, amazing lunches made by our in-house chefs and the generosity and kindness of the company as a whole.
Did you find that the skills you learnt in other fields are transferable to software engineering?
Definitely! A huge part of being a Software Engineer is having your code reviewed by other engineers. As a junior, it can be quite heartbreaking to raise a pull request (PR) and then see a list of growing comments on your PR. Fortunately, my previous career conditioned me well when it came to constructive feedback.
I also consider myself lucky to have a background in design because I feel this skill is extremely complementary with Software Engineering. Especially when it comes to front-end and mobile development, where user experience and user interface design make up a huge part of the process. Whether you’re a junior or a senior developer, I highly recommend adding design to your arsenal.
What advice would you give someone who is interested in becoming a Software Engineer?
I feel like I could write a 500-page essay on this, but I’ll keep it short and sweet and say, if you’re interested in becoming a Software Engineer, just do it. Make it happen and start learning.
Aside from asserting conviction toward anyone making a decision to become a Software Engineer, I do have a few pearls of wisdom I would like to share:
1. Focus on self-learning first. If you’ve decided to enrol in a bootcamp or take on a course, use it as a supplement for your self learning! I’m a bootcamp graduate and they were amazing sources of knowledge, learning and support. However, it’s not possible for a course to teach you everything you need to know within the course’s duration. This isn’t anyone’s fault, it’s simply the nature of starting as a Software Engineer. When you commit to Software Engineering you’re committing yourself to be a lifelong learner — and a lot of it is done by yourself.
2. Imposter syndrome and self-doubt are real demons you need to battle, but try to remind yourself that you’re not alone on this journey. Every developer no matter how senior they are has most likely had to battle their own form of imposter syndrome and self-doubt as part of their journey as well. I will go as far as to say that if you’re ever feeling overwhelmed, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn and I’ll do my best to support and encourage you — therefore I can say with confidence that you really are not walking this path alone, because I’m only a LinkedIn message away.
3. Software Engineering is a 110% collaborative profession. You’ll most likely be part of a team. You may or may not be working with other engineers, but you’ll nearly always have to work with other people. Just remember that the people you work with are human beings just like you, who have real feelings and go through good and bad days as well. Tap into that empathy, keep your attitude in check, treat others with the same respect that you expect and you’ll shine as a Software Engineer.
4. #AlwaysBeLearning and #AlwaysBeCoding
At SafetyCulture, we are excited to come to work and the value we bring to the business. We are hiring!
