Sophia Bell

Senior Software Engineer at Credera UK

www.sophiabell.dev - currently being redesigned

Profile | Projects | Skills | Education | Work experience | Hobbies | Contact

Profile

Changing careers is not an easy thing to do. The majority of my career has centered around website management and digital content, and I have had a lot of success in my previous role - as digital content and SEO lead, I helped increase website traffic to my sites from roughly 100,000 visitors a year to 5.5 million over my tenure, directly contributing to the team winning 'Best Specialist Team in a public or not-for-profit organisation' at the Taxation Awards 2020. However, I was only really skimming the surface of the tech world and I still felt like something was missing.

It was only when I started a 3-month evening web development course at 23 Code Street that I finally understood what I wanted to do - programming! This led to a number of online courses and finally to Makers, a 16-week intensive dev bootcamp. Following completion of the course I started working on a number of personal projects until I landed an engineering role at Credera (then DMW Group). I have since been promoted to Senior Engineer, and split my time between client work, leading the Sustainable Operations Team and working on a pro bono project, A Good Thing, an app designed to help businesses donate unwanted items to local charities.

Tech Skills : Javascript, React, Typescript, Ruby, Rails, Svelte, C#, Gatsby, JAMstack, Sanity CMS, Python, jQuery, HTML, CSS, SQL, PostgreSQL, NodeJS

Testing: RTL, RSpec, Jasmine, Capybara, Jest, Cypress, Pytest

Linting: Rubocop, ESlint, Simplecov

Projects

Project	Details	What I learnt
Mix Tape	Makers final project to build an app that utilises the Spotify API to mix and produce playlists with your friends, and play them in-app. React Frontend, Rails Backend	Learning an entirely new framework (React) in under 2 weeks is tough but manageable enough to produce a working and great looking app! Communication and teamwork are vital when learning new skills quickly. Spotify API authentication is tricky but, once you crack it, you are able to do so much. Code reviews are a must! Tech: React, Rails, Javascript, Ruby, PostgreSQL, Heroku Testing and linting: Rspec, Capybara, Simplecov, ESlint
Innercise	Current project to create an app to help people more effectively exercise indoors using the YouTube API Ruby on Rails	Currently still in development but using the time to really consolidate what I have learnt in previous projects (and try some new things out too). That setting up Travis correctly is a lesson in patience. Always read API authorisation documentation thoroughly so you don't breach any terms of service. Doing a project without a set deadline has its ups and downs. Tech: Ruby, Rails, Javascript, jQuery, PostgreSQL, Bootstrap, Heroku, Travis CI Testing and linting: Rspec, Capybara, Simplecov, Coveralls
Acebook	Team project to build a clone of Facebook Ruby on Rails	Taking time to research before diving straight into coding will always be beneficial. The same goes for planning. jQuery and Rails don't often play ball nicely. Tech: Ruby, Rails, Javascript, jQuery, PostgreSQL, Bootstrap, Heroku, Travis CI Testing and linting: Rspec, Capybara, Simplecov, Coveralls, CodeClimate
Bank Tech Test	To write a program that can be used by irb to simulate a user's interaction with their bank account	How to approach a tech test. I wrote this program in both Ruby and Javascript to try to better understand the similarities and differences when approaching the problem from a Ruby or Javascript standpoint. Tech: Ruby Testing and linting: Rspec, Rubocop, Simplecov

All projects can be found on my GitHub account

Skills

Adaptable and thrives under pressure

Part of the process of being a Maker is being able to adapt your learning to whatever project, learning tool or pair partner you are working with that week. This was especially the case during our final project, Mix Tape. The easy thing to do would have been to pick a subject and framework we were familiar with, however wanting to continue our learning and see how far we could push ourselves, we opted to use two things we had very little experience with, APIs and React. The learning curve was steep as we had less than 2 weeks to completion, but we were able to put together a project that utilises a React frontend and Rails backend to interact with the Spotify API. We continually adapted our design to take into account time constraints and used Agile methodologies thoughout.

Teamwork

Project work, by far, has been the most enjoyable aspect of my time at Makers. I work well when bouncing ideas off of other people, something I was able to do quite a bit of in my previous role as digital lead for LITRG. While at LITRG I worked through 2 large website migrations with 2 separate teams of developers, and it gave me the opportunity to experience Agile work processes from the client side. Setting realisitic goals while still maintaining creativity was the order of the day and we were able to produce 2 successful websites.

Takes the initiative

Once I had an inkling that software engineering was the path I wanted to take, I immediately set about making that happen alongside my day job and freelance work. I attended 23 Code Street's web development course, started online courses such as Codacademy, and sat down with a number of friends already in the industry to pair program with, picking their brains on best practice and what their expectations are for junior developers (emphasis on enthusiasm, learning and not to play code golf...). Since leaving Makers I've started my own projects, both solo and with other junior developers, in order to continue my learning journey, including a rails app to help people exercise indoors.

Attention to detail

It is important to be able to spot mistakes, especially when it comes to code. My previous roles have always required an eye for detail and the ability to quickly pick up on spelling, grammatical or formatting errors. As sub-editor to 2 trade magazines this means not only proofing the documents but also rewriting large swathes of text, including reordering or compacting articles in order to better fit the page (via Indesign). This is a skill I feel translates well into the world of programming, not only for debugging but also refactoring of code, and is something I have been able to prove over my course period, both in my project and individual work.

Education

Makers Academy (January 2020 - May 2020)

Highly selective 16-week immersive course that emphasises test-driven software development and agile methodologies. As a student I was encouraged to take ownership of my learning process, both as an individual and part of a team, producing programs in a variety of languages and frameworks. This included:

• Collaborating and learning through pair programming and peer-driven code reviews
• Writing clear, simple code by following TDD and OOP design patterns
• Daily stand-ups, sprint planning and evening retros
• Project work using GitHub as a version control tool (largely done remotely)
• Understanding project requirements by creating user stories, domain models and breaking features down into smaller, manageable tasks

23 Code Street (May 2019 - Aug 2019)

A 12-week bi-weekly Web Development Foundation course.

• JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3
• Version control via GitHub and Fork
• Responsive and accessible development and design principles
• Group work and pair programming

Durham University (2005 - 2008)

• Combined Honours in Arts (Classics and English): BA(Hons) 2:1
• Elective module in Ancient History
• Evening classes in Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics

George Abbot Sixth Form College (2003 - 2005)

• 3 A-levels: English, History, Latin
• 1 AS-level: Physics
• Elected Head Girl by the student body and faculty

Professional Development

All training requested and undertaken once I had identified gaps in my previous team's knowledge and expertise. This contributed to our team's effeciency and success as I was able to take these roles in-house.

• Drupal 7 CMS training
• HTML/CSS Level 1 Programming Course
• Fast Track Digital Marketing
• Content Marketing for Web, Mobile and Social Media
• Google Analytics Advance - Optimising your site training

Work experience

Software Engineer (2020 - current)

Credera UK

• Was a part of team working on the redevelopment (from Adobe Experience Manager to JAMstack technologies), redesign and launch of a well-known global deodorant brand. Increased user engagement by 309%, improved user experience with site load time reduced from 4.8 to 1.2 seconds and increasing Lighthouse scores from 12 to 92. This approach is now being rolled out to all international markets.
• Experienced using React, Typescript, Gatsby, Sanity CMS, Netlify, Jest, Cypress

Digital Content Manager/Webmaster (2012 - 2020)

The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group

• As Digital Content lead, website manager and SEO lead I helped increase our website traffic from roughly 100,000 visitors a year to 5.5 million over my tenure. This included overseeing an extensive website migration, setting up and managing project sites, devising yearly project and marketing plans, and being the key liaison between the team and our developers.
• Experienced using Drupal CMS, ExpressionEngine, Sharepoint and ClickDimensions.

Technical Team Administrator (2010 - 2012)

The Chartered Institute of Taxation

• Website management of 3 separate organisations' Technical areas, including proofing and formatting content, database management (Citrix and Access) and social media output.

Accounts Officer (2010)

Constellation

• Client portfolio management involving specialised customer care.
• Preparation of client and financial reports, including trend identification.
• Logistics and supply chain problem solving.
• Management of Citrix database.

Placements Officer (2008 - 2009)

NHS Continuing Care, NHS Surrey PCT

• Responsible for sourcing care for elderly or disabled patients on an individual basis.
• Intensive liaison between hospital staff, relatives, agencies and nursing homes.
• Management of database, containing sensitive and confidential information.
• Administrative and IT support, involving extensive use of Microsoft Office.

Freelance

Shopify - Web Developer

Thirteen Months

• Styling and troubleshooting template issues on a Shopify website. Shopify uses Liquid, a template language created by Shopify and written in Ruby.

Wordpress - Web Developer

Bridal Bus

• Building a website for a new business in Wordpress. This project is still in its infancy (and is on hold because of the current situation).

InDesign - Sub-Editor

Motor Finance/Leasing Life

• Proofing and copy editing in Indesign

Hobbies

Sci-fi nut, gamer since the days of DOS, in practice a worse piano player than my years of playing suggest, amateur ceramicist, cat whisperer, and destroyer of potted plants (although I'm working on that one).

Volunteering

I enjoy volunteering my time when I am able. I have previously volunteered for the following organisations:

• Trees for Cities
• London Wildlife Trust
• Bellevue Program for Survivors of Torture
• CREATE London

Contact

• Email: sophbell87@gmail.com
• Portfolio website: www.sophiabell.dev - currently under redesign
• GitHub: Kittaru87
• Blogging site: Medium