As a Junior Mobile Developer at Deloitte, I start my day with an early morning workout to set me up for a productive day. It is Monday morning, and today I decide to work from home, thanks to the flexible working policy which even allows the occasional work from abroad option, allowing me to visit friends and family in London easily!
My current project is building an app for the 10,000+ employees of a large retail client making their lives more pleasant and their work more efficient. As a developer I get to build all the cool functionalities to make this into a reality. I am really enjoying this project so far because I have been placed with the client since the start of development which has enabled me to understand best practices when setting up a code base and allowed for more creative freedom. This contrasts with my last project which was an events planning app inherited with a lot of legacy code. Although legacy code presented its own learnings I prefer to work from a clean slate.
We normally work using an agile approach and my current project is no different. I love this way of working as every day brings new challenges to overcome. On this project we start the day with a stand-up to discuss our progress, address obstacles and understand our priorities for the day. The client often joins the stand-ups to stay involved with the day-to-day development process. This works well as it helps to keep our progress transparent and allows questions to be resolved swiftly. So far, the client is incredibly happy with our progress.
After this meeting I will usually start some development. This can be working on an already existing ticket, picking up something new or, as is the case today, picking up issues the testers have found in previously developed code. I resolve the errors in my code, submit a pull request and once the code undergoes a thorough review process, I inform the testers that they can re-test the screens.
Now, it’s time to choose a new feature to start coding. After discussing with my manager, we decide that I will work on a new introduction screen to explain to the employees who will be using the app how they can get the most out of it. We talk through the best approach for both iOS and Android, as I am programming in React Native, which implements across both platforms. I put on some music, I love listening to deep house while programming, I get into the flow of programming and the time flies by.
During my time spent programming I am continuously consulting with backend developers, designers, and business analysts to ensure the results achieved are of the best standards. I really enjoy working with the different parts of the team to think of the optimum solution to obstacles. Aligning with so many stakeholders is not without its challenges, but I have found most issues can be resolved through (over)communication. Through these types of scenarios I am reminded that not only are my hard skills developed at work but also my soft skills, this is one of the things I really enjoy about my job.
Besides my client work I find some time to go over a workshop I am leading with a colleague at a team event later in the month to support diversity and inclusion. The event will consist of people sharing different facts about themselves. They will be split into groups and asked to write down the answer to various questions on pieces of paper cut out in the shape of a petal. The questions are aimed to celebrate all the differences we have across the team and will include questions such as how many languages you speak. At the end we will go through some of the answers and put them on display as a ‘diverse garden’. I am really looking forward to running it and want to make sure everything is prepared ahead of time.
The last meeting of the day is with the Dutch mobile team. As most of us are working on different client projects, I have not seen several of my colleagues in a while I decide to go to the office for this meeting, a quick 15-minute bike ride. During the meeting, we discuss our quarterly goals, what we have done well, and where we can improve. The meeting ends with beers and pizza, a great chance to bond with the team. We chat about weekend plans, future aspirations, and general personal life. Overall, an enjoyable day.
I have been working at Deloitte for about a year now. I really appreciate the variety of working life. I am given the tools to grow not just as a developer but also as a consultant. Through this I can contribute to the growth of my team and Deloitte as a whole. This is made possible through internal and client projects, team activities, learning and development courses, initiatives as well as regular coaching sessions. Overall, creating a highly satisfying work life.