Name: Claudia Tweedie
Role: Associate Software Engineer at Puppet
I graduated from Ulster University Magee Campus in summer 2020, where I received a 1st Class Honors degree in BSc Computer Science. During my time at Ulster, I completed my placement year at Puppet and was offered a full-time permanent position after I’d graduated.
What does your typical day look like?
I usually start my workday at around 8:10. From then until stand-up, I check my emails and focus on what I plan to be doing that day. This can be anything from coding a feature, fixing bugs, or learning something new.
During stand-up, we discuss what we did yesterday and what we will be doing that day. I then continue to work on that task until the end of the day unless I have other meetings to attend. I am a fullstack engineer, so I work with both backend (mostly Golang) and frontend (mostly React) technologies.
What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on the latest release of Puppet Remediate. Puppet Remediate is a tool that helps our customers remediate vulnerabilities. They can remediate these vulnerabilities, or assign priorities to certain vulnerabilities so that they can deal with them at a later date.
What inspired you to join Puppet?
I found out about Puppet through a friend who ran a bunch of Hackathons in Belfast. I didn’t know that much about DevOps at that stage, but I knew that Puppet’s products make our users’ lives a lot easier. I also wanted to work as part of a company with a startup mindset, as I felt it would give me the most experience out of my placement year.
Finally, it struck me as a company where employees genuinely enjoyed working. From the culture to the atmosphere (it’s a dog-friendly office!) to the benefits, people enjoy being a part of Puppet and are enthusiastic about solving the problems our customers face.
What is your favourite thing about your work?
I really like working with the people on my team, and with everyone in the office. My Puppet coworkers are very friendly and they are more than happy to answer any questions that I have–even if they may seem obvious!
I also like the volunteer days perk, where we get up to 4 extra days off to volunteer. Pre-pandemic, I used these days to visit schools to do coding workshops and talk about what it’s like to work in the industry.
Did you always want to work in the tech industry?
Working in the tech industry has always been a consideration of mine, but it wasn’t the only career that I set my sights on. For a long time, I wanted to work as a game developer, but I also wanted to work as a doctor or a teacher, as well as in film. It wasn’t until my A Levels did I fully commit to working in the tech industry as a software developer.
What would you say to others who are considering a role in this industry?
The tech industry is a massive industry–you don’t have to be a software engineer to be a part of it. I believe anyone can program, regardless of ability in other subjects or other limitations. Don’t let the code scare you away!
What do you consider to be the most important tech innovation in recent years?
The further development of AI would be one important innovation. The obvious benefits to AI include automating everyday tasks, self-driving cars and more, but some lesser known benefits can be life-changing to their users. For example, there are prosthetic limbs being developed that use AI to make them feel as much like a non-prosthetic limb as possible.
The more widespread access to the internet would also be an important tech innovation. More people than ever have access to the world wide web, thus making it easier to access resources that they would not otherwise have. Being able to communicate with the rest of the world with a few clicks is extremely beneficial to those in rural areas.
What tech gadget could you not live without?
I know it’s cliche, but I don’t think I could live without my phone. It is my main way of communicating with my friends and family, especially throughout the Coronavirus pandemic. I also use it to keep up on current events and news, and it lets me do all of this on the go.
