Photo by Christopher Gower on Unsplash
From Engineering to Sales, and Back Again!
How I discovered my passion for software engineering
Hi there! I'm Shannon, and I'm pivoting my career back into tech!
Sometimes I ask myself if I've ever left, but I'll leave that up to you to decide. Firstly, thanks for stopping by! It's so nice to meet you 😊
I'm a chemical engineering graduate, a former engineer in training, then a sales professional, and in my most recent role, a teaching assistant at BrainStation's web development bootcamp. It's been a journey to get to this point, but after I've discovered that coding was my true passion, I've never been so excited to pursue a career in tech!
Remember Piczo?
When I was about 10 years old, I discovered Piczo, an online website building tool, and began building websites. It became a hobby that I easily lost time doing as I enjoyed experimenting with designs to execute the vision I had for each page. I also loved playing online strategy games from a young age, allowing me to engage in, practice, and hone strategic thinking skills.
The first time I was introduced to HTML was in 10th grade, it was a 3 day unit in our "Broad Based Technology" class. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but didn't understand the full capabilities of it. In grade 12, I enrolled into another technology class, but we learned tools such as AutoCAD and google Sketchup for 3D modeling. Although the engineer in me loved it, I didn't know that pursuing a career in software engineering was possible, or what it entailed.
Fast forward to my computer science class...
In my first year of my chemical engineering program, we learned MATLAB. I was hooked. I used MATLAB ✨everywhere ✨ throughout my degree, and then, learned and used Python during my internships and even roles outside of school:
- In Germany, while working in a chemistry lab, I made a graphical user interface to help study glass corrosion. (2018) 🧪
- While working at Irving Oil, I programmed a Python Script to automate a data-transfer task that would have taken me the whole week to complete. (2019) 👩🏻🔬
- In the same internship at Irving Oil, I performed image analysis to help estimate volume of an oil spill for the Environment Group. (2019) ⚙️
- In my previous Role at Rockwell Automation, I created a graphical user interface with Python that could help account managers and their customers better calculate discounts and anticipate prices of hardware and software and export the results. (2022) 🤝
In fall of 2021 while intentionally searching for hobbies,
I came across front-end web development and ended up self-studying for approximately three months on my own time. It was the perfect balance between theory and practice, and I re-discovered the joy of learning - trying out new frameworks, problem solving with new algorithms, and stretching my mind and improving my patience.
After 3 years of working in sales, I quit what I thought was my dream job. I thoroughly enjoyed working as an account manager - building rapport with customers and helping them achieve their goals brought me immense satisfaction. I had never thought about quitting until I discovered coding!
After enrolling into a full-stack web development bootcamp in April 2022 and successfully completing it, I was selected to be a Teaching Assistant for the July 2022 cohort, and it's finally come to an end. My time at BrainStation has been incredible, and I'm excited to wake up every day with a sense of purpose and unyielding motivation to continue my career in tech!
What Moves Me:
✅ Sharing Knowledge: I love being able to share new tips, tricks, and processes with the community, specifically those working alongside me on any given project.
✅ Life-long Learning: I like to think of of every problem as a system and that every system can be improved. Being a web developer as a profession is like dedication to being a life long learner. There will always be new technologies to learn, use and catch up on. It takes a lot of time, but it’s time I’m willing to put in!
✅ Diversity and Inclusion: Diversity in the workforce brings creativity and innovation. During my time at Rockwell Automation, I was the national Lead of an employee resource group for women where we focused on bringing mentorship, networking, and leadership opportunities to women and provided education to allies. I'm passionate about creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued.
When I'm not at my desk you can find me...
🏐 Playing court or beach volleyball, season dependent
⛳ Golfing! I still have yet to break 90
🏃♀️ Staying active in the gym or outside
☕ Exploring the city's latest and greatest coffee shops
Connect with me!
I hope to use this blog to document the processes of building my projects and sharing useful knowledge as I search for a developer role. If you've made it this far, thank you for taking the time to get to know me, and I'd be more than happy to connect with you!