Sara, Software developer

Hi, I'm Sara, 32 years old, and I've been a software developer at CHECK24 in Hamburg for a year and a half. I got into the IT industry as a career changer through the IT Bootcamp "Neue fische" here in Hamburg. There I learned the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript with React framework. As a final project, I built an app, which I also applied at CHECK24. Two months after the Bootcamp, I started at CHECK24. So I'm still relatively fresh in software development.

I was excited by the technologies we work with. CHECK24 introduced itself at our Bootcamp and mentioned that I could work with PHP and Javascript, and thus not "only" in the frontend but also in the back end. I found that very exciting. When I had my trial day at CHECK24, I got the chance to see how they approach software development, and I got my expectations confirmed. Additionally, there was a great vibe in the office. In the beginning, I did a new starter project to get familiar with the latest technologies. After that, I was given easier and progressively more difficult tickets and was slowly integrated into the daily work. The onboarding was very valuable, especially for me as a career changer.

As a software developer, I work with my colleagues on both the front and back end of our comparison. As a junior, I still get support, but there are also many areas I can work on alone. Tasks, such as new features for the site, are described by our product managers in tickets, and we developers then work on them. We try to make the keys simple enough, so on average, you spend one to three days working on one ticket. That means everyone usually does several tickets per week.

I get up early, so I'm usually one of the first in the office, or at the moment, at my desk in the home office. But by 10:30 at the latest, all my colleagues are there for the morning stand-up, and we discuss who is currently working on which ticket. After that, I continue working on my tickets. I'm constantly in touch with my colleagues. Even in a home office, you don't feel alone at all. Twice a week, we discuss future tickets and estimate their complexity. And every Friday, we plan the next sprint, i.e., the following week.

I used to think developers stared at the screen all day, typing away silently and lonely.

But that's a misconception of what everyday work is really like. Everything we do is always a team effort. We talk about our code, think together, exchange ideas, and look for solutions. So it's always very lively in our office. Fortunately, we've been able to transfer that to our home office time quite well.

The frontend is more accessible for me than the backend. That's why I'm having more fun with it. I can discuss my solutions and defend my code in review. We work with Angular on the frontend, which I just learned and like. We get our code structured with it and can make our site faster and faster. Also, Angular itself is constantly evolving, and it's exciting to see how Javascript and Angular grow.

The great thing is that my work is very versatile and diverse. I'm constantly working on exciting new projects, which never gets boring.

Right now, my team has restructured our entire comparison track. To do this, we copied our old way and rebuilt it over several weeks. I expected several months of work to implement it, but we were fast!

The last thing I did was work on our automated tests for this new track. This was a new topic for me, and I found it very exciting. Now we can quickly see again after deployments if anything has broken.

Currently, my IT team comprises 11 developers plus 3 product managers with whom we also talk daily. Everyone is amicable! I still require a lot of help, and everyone is immediately willing to answer my questions or explain contexts, so I am grateful.

Joint team events are significant for us. Before Corona, for example, we went stand-up paddling on the Alster or often had a barbecue on the roof terrace. That's not possible right now, but we always meet on Friday afternoons for a virtual drink and toast the week and chat a bit.

When I started at CHECK24, I was a complete beginner. I'm doing very well and am pleased with how much I've learned in the last year.

The codebase is so big and the tech stack so complex that I'm sure I will stay energized for a while. I will continue to learn and build knowledge in the next year.

Before I did the Bootcamp, I would have never seen myself in IT. It wasn't on my radar that I could be good at it, and I had a stereotypical idea of the profession. However, working in IT means problem-solving, pondering, logic, creativity, and communication. Above all, software development is so multifaceted that there is a place for everyone. I would therefore motivate women to at least consider whether programming could be the right thing for them. I was surprised that it was such a good fit.

And for all the women already thinking about going into IT: Do it! We need more women in IT.