At Vanquis, we're all encouraged to own our own development and make time to learn as part of our everyday roles.
Here we catch up with Principal Software Engineer, Anita about why learning is so important in an ever-evolving tech landscape, and how she makes time for her own development.
Anita, tell us a little about your role
I work in the Loans team, and was brought in to help with migrations to a Single Page Application for customers. This evolved into helping as a developer on the project. Not having any previous Microsoft experience, I needed to improve my knowledge to assist with developing functionality. I am still learning all the time and will continue to do so. It’s maybe a good thing that I enjoy learning and applying that knowledge!
How do you make sure you have time to learn?
I get excited when I’m midway into a learning project – a bit like a good book, it can be difficult for me to put down. But as with reading a good book, if too much time lapses between sessions, you forget what you have already gone through. So it’s important for me to make the time to keep moving on any learning, even if it’s 10 minutes a day. Most of the time I start my day a bit earlier, especially now that I no longer have a commute, and I get some learning in before my workday starts. I’m a morning person, so this works for me, but may not work for others.
On the topic of Pluralsight - any tips or best practices?
I don’t know about you, but I find quite a number of lecturers, speak slowly, I suppose this is so that they are clear in their communication. I find this frustrating, as I want them to get to the point, so what I do is speed up the playback, to a level that I’m comfortable in absorbing the information. I find this made a difference in my learning!
How has Pluralsight helped you in your role?
This helps me be a contributing member, I may not have all the experience as someone else, but at least I have a place to begin the journey. Pluralsight is the first step, then practising builds up that knowledge and experience. I have targeted learning in areas where my team has been lean in knowledge, examples are git commands and NServiceBus, this has helped with filling in the knowledge gaps, and brought about better understanding in these areas.
What do you like about Pluralsight?
The amount of courses available, variety, and how up-to-date they are. It’s brilliant that we have access to this as an online learning resource at Vanquis.
Why is continuous learning and development important to you?
To keep moving forward and not get bored, improving skills continually keeps everything fresh and evolving.
You can check out some more of our Tech colleagues' learning stories here:
Vince, Software Engineer: https://www.vanquiscareers.co.uk/story/vince-learning-in-tech
Mark, Principal Software Engineer: https://www.vanquiscareers.co.uk/story/mark-learning-in-tech
