Niall has joined the Apptaura development team on the Kickstart Scheme. He has joined the team as our QA Tester and is in an ongoing battle with our developers to spot bugs…whilst our dev team attempt to squash them before he has the chance to find them. The battle rages. He’s winning. This is the Kickstart Diary Month Two entry from Niall.
5 words that describe your experience and journey with Apptaura this month:
- Challenging
- Driven
- Motivated
- Proud
- Fun
What have you been working on this month?
I have been working on building a full regression list for one of our apps, to make future regression tests easier, quicker and more regimented. I will then be building similar lists for other apps.
Tell us something you have learned this month:
I’ve learned to break difficult tasks down into smaller, more manageable ones. This helps my workflow as I’m able to focus on and complete individual pieces of work rather than being swamped by bigger jobs.
Share something that you have found difficult or tricky over the last month:
I have found it difficult to keep on top of the organisation requirements for one of our apps. Thankfully the rest of the dev team have been helping me out and I’ve been keeping lines of communication open and flowing with the client so they are kept in the loop. It’s an area I’m planning on improving even more.
What advice would you give to someone who isn’t sure about a Kickstart placement?
Just go for it! I have found that learning on the job is far easier for me than learning in a classroom, and a kickstarter placement is a great way to begin your journey.
What’s one thing you’re learning now, and why do you think it is important?
I am learning to think from a customer’s perspective, and shift my responses based on what the customer is feeling or what the scope of their problem is. It makes for better communications and understanding between us and the client, which is vital as I’m quite often the first contact point when something does go wrong. It’s a steep learning curve, but rewarding to be making progress.
What have you learnt about your team
Can I say this? I’m not sure… but I’m going for it anyway. I’ve learnt that there is only one thing in the world that will make G-man (Gareth – our lead Android Developer) late for a meeting. And that is a delivery of chicken. Gareth is really into his fitness and lectures us all about eating correctly, so woe betide you if you get in the way of one of his scheduled meals.
Are you an early bird or a night owl?
Definitely a night owl. Something about the night time brings out the energy in me!
Thinking back to your first month, and the challenges at the beginning, reflect a little on how you’re feeling about things now:
I am feeling like I have made steady progress and my confidence is building. Now to push on and continue to improve.
Check out Niall’s first diary entry here.
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