A Day in the Life of – Claire, Software Developer for SARD JV
SARD is full of talented people and together they make up a great team. We’ve started a new series where we showcase these talents in a new way: ‘A day in the life of –’
In this post we focus on Claire, a Software Developer who joined SARD in September 2020. Claire loves problem solving and was drawn to the world of software development. She has a varied background having worked in theatres and in outreach before settling at SARD where she has enjoyed working with creative and passionate people.
Take it away, Claire.
Morning
I enjoy routine and as such every day starts the same. As my computer loads, I brew my one strong black coffee for the day, while checking what’s on my to-do list. Once logged in, my first port of call is to follow up on any messages or emails that have come in overnight. Then it’s time to get cracking, continuing on from the work of the previous day.
At 10am, we have a daily ‘tech scrum’, where the whole tech team meets on Zoom to discuss our current workload, and to raise any issues or queries that may have arisen since the last meeting.
Coding makes up the largest portion of my job; changing current code or generating new files is the majority of my work. The aim is to make our products easy for people to use, and to ensure they are fit for purpose. Each task varies from the next as we constantly build and adapt the site to keep up with users wants and needs. It’s really satisfying to see things I have created on the site being utilised.
Afternoon
Two days a week I am responsible for answering queries on our internal Tech Support chat. This generally involves answering tech-based queries from SARD’s Customer Support team, who receive these questions from users of our products. Customer Support answer the majority of queries directly, however sometimes the team requires technical responses or even fixes, and that’s where Technical Support comes in. For example, if an administrator wants to know when something was created, I can find this out in a few moments, provide this information to the Customer Support team, who in turn pass it on to the admin. I enjoy the fact that the line of communication is so quick and easy, meaning we assist users in real time, making their experience using SARD as seamless as possible.
I’m also currently being trained on the live support chat by the Customer Support team. I’m really enjoying the opportunity to talk directly to users and helping to answer their queries. It’s really useful for the technical side of my job too, as I am able to see how users interact with our products while understanding where issues can arise.
Before completing my day and signing off, I always plan my next day, using a handy to-do list notepad, so I can hit the ground running the following morning.
Evening
Once I close my laptop and finish work, I go for a run. As I work from home, this is an effective way for me to separate my work time from my down time, and it also allows me to mull over any work things before returning home to enjoy my evening. The running is a relatively new thing; during the pandemic I started a new fitness regime and have found that scheduling in a run after work is a really easy way to keep my fitness up while separating my home and work life.
