Carly began her career in Sales and Marketing after completing a BDes in Design & Communication at the University of Ulster. She transitioned into technical presales before moving into software testing, where she has been working for around seven years. She has a keen interest in business processes and test automation.
What does your typical day look like?
Writing test cases, setting up data, deploying code and executing test cases are typical tasks in any given day. To ensure our teams delivery is on track with product requests I work closely with Business Analysts and Developers daily, so really every day is different but follows similar tasks and processes.
What are you currently working on?
I work on an order management system that matches buyers and sellers in financial markets across the globe – more specifically I’m looking at a new metrics dashboard for the Credit business to they can monitor usage and trends. TPICAP encourage career progression and growth, and I always look forward to the next new project to deliver.
What inspired you to join this company in particular?
A referral from a former colleague got me interested in moving into finance but it wasn’t something I had any previous experience in. Given that QA fundamentals are the same across industries I took the leap and I was given the training and support I needed by TPICAP to move into the finance world. Three years on I continue to learn, and it has proved a very interesting industry to be in.
Did you always want to work in this industry (tech)?
No not at all, I have a degree in graphic design and communication which I used for sales and marketing jobs before I moved into a technical presales role. This move transitioned me into the tech world and I trained on the job as a Quality Assurance analyst.
What’s your favourite part about your work?
There are two things - the people I work with and the software development process. Being part of a software development lifecycle is so rewarding when you see the work you have tested go into production. This takes an entire team of skilled, likeminded people each with their own areas of expertise. Teamwork makes the dreamwork!
What would you say to other people considering a job in this industry (tech)?
I would say go for it, not all tech jobs involve coding! It’s an evolving sector where skills learnt are transferable, hybrid working is possible and there’s opportunities all over the world. There are lots of areas to get involved in such as product, business, quality assurance, architecture, support, security and more.
Who inspired you to work in this field?
A sales director from a former workplace gave me an opportunity to get into tech via a technical presales role this moved away from my marketing background. Tech has since presented some great opportunities which align with my strengths, and I have worked with some fantastic people. I have never looked back and I have that one person to thank for the introduction.
What do you consider to be the most important tech innovation or development in recent years?
There are lots to choose from, but for me after entering a more tech focused line of work across a number of industries I would say Cloud Computing. This has encouraged digital transformation across businesses and governmental sectors large and small, impacting all industries.
How do you see this technology impacting on our lives?
Moving to the cloud has enabled agile working, made way for automation and made communicating more accessible for just about everyone. I can see us being able to do more and more from our phones in order to keep up with an increasingly fast paced lifestyle.
What tech gadget could you not live without?
My robot hoover!
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