Li Howe

"As an 'Investigator', being logical, collecting ideas and information, piecing things together and understanding a range of subjects are all key to what I do. I need to be able to think logically through the steps of a process that others might miss, or be able to imagine how two separate pieces of data could come together to provide an answer. As an 'Explorer', being inquisitive and practical, understanding why and how things happen, searching out information and experimenting and of course solving puzzles all feed into the daily work I do. As a ‘Quality Controller’, being honest with a sense of fairness and liking things to be fair, legal, honest and safe are all key not only to the data protection side of my work, but the ethics of data analysis as well. I need to be confident that even if the data doesn't say what I would like it to say, or the recipient would like it to say, that I will still be honest and ethical in presenting it. I need to be able to challenge when I think someone wants to 'massage' the data, or use some data in a way that isn't legal or ethical. Of course attention to detail is critical in analysis, so I need to be a stickler for details being correct and always looking with a critical eye to find errors or 'what might happen if...' situations. Finally, as a 'Developer', being creative and practical, solving problems with creativity and understanding what others need are the bread and butter of the job. I need to know the context of the data I'm looking at, which requires being able to understand and keep up with all the areas of the business I work in, even if that's what gets taught in the pool or published in marketing and not technical at all. At the end of the day, I need the practical ability to make what my users need, but the creativity to make it engaging and easy for them to use. "

"I am responsible for all the internal management and analysis of data. I plan, design and build the code that will analyse the data. I also help other people use the systems. I'm also responsible for using data to personalise our customer communications and for data protection within the company. I'm a very curious person by nature, so I love that my job basically involves solving puzzles. I'm definitely a problem solver so using data or technology to solve business issues and answer questions is perfect for me. I also love to help other people and in my job I get to work with every different area of the business. Giving people answers to questions they didn't think could be answered is one of the best parts of the job. We're an international company so there is plenty of opportunity to travel, although we also make use of a lot of tech that means I can stay in my comfort zone as well. I love that I get to work somewhere a bit fun: we regularly have dogs in the office and we're casual in dress code. I have plenty of tattoos and there's no issue with them being visible, or any intimation that having them impacts my work. We're pretty well balanced in terms of gender ratio and as a whole, our company is majority female employees. Most of all I love two things: the people I get to work with every day - we're a really special bunch (in so many ways!) and it's always fun to go into work - and the fact that I get to do the kind of work I really love, for a company that's ultimately about teaching children a life skill, so I feel like I'm contributing something positive to the world. There isn't a particularly rigid progression structure in my company, but there are definitely routes to progress either into management of a department or more senior expertise-based roles. There are definite opportunities for employees to move into roles that suit their career path or their aptitudes, even if it's not progression up a 'standard' career ladder. I started work at the com"

"I took a fairly circuitous route to where I am now - I did A-levels in Religious Studies, English Lit and Biology, and a degree in electronic media with a specialism in Computer Animation. I like to think I'm a good example of how you really can get into STEM from any educational background, even if you might think it's too late. I wish I'd had something like MSML when I was doing GCSEs - one of the reasons I get involved is to help girls maybe find their path into STEM a little earlier than I did.I'm now a qualified Microsoft Excel Specialist and just completed my Google Analytics certification. At the moment I have a range of areas to explore for the next stage of my career, so my immediate plans just involve figuring out what I most enjoy and want to focus on next. It turns out, that's pretty much what working life is like! Most important to me is just contributing something good to the world, so I see myself perhaps moving into a pure science role in the future. But really, who knows?"

"I am a complete nerd in my spare time as well as at work! I read a lot: fantasy, Sci-Fi and science. I watch some TV, mainly documentaries and twenty-year-old Sci-Fi shows, but I'm also a sucker for shows like GBBO or Master Chef. I love shows about nerdy people and their hobbies. I play a host of computer games but mainly World of Warcraft and Pokemon Go and I'm currently in a Dungeons & Dragons campaign with four friends. I occasionally make jewellery, or at least try to. Every year I try again to keep a blog. I love coffee and visit my coffee shop so regularly that the baristas know me by name. I love trying out new crazy makeup looks from YouTube and every three months or so I get a new tattoo. I volunteer not just as a STEM Ambassador but for local events like Exeter Pride and TechExeter.I suffer from chronic depression and both generalised anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder. I've had all three since I was at school, at the sort of age that girls in the WISE program might be now. My company are incredibly supportive, I take medication and I manage my illness the way anyone else does. I believe it's important for girls to know that mental health problems happen to a lot of us and for anyone who might be suffering now to know that even if it doesn't go away, it doesn't have to stop them from getting to do a job they love."

"As much as I have a typical day, it goes a little like this: 1. Make tea, informally catch up with the team, and check nothing is on fire (metaphorically or literally). 2. Catch up on email (I keep a zero inbox), review any issues assigned to me and answer any data related questions. 3. About half the week, I'll be in project meetings in which I'm consulted on the technical understanding of what the project needs with regard to our databases and systems (for example, a project to change our website, or to launch in a new country). The other half of the week, I can go straight into the development zone. 4. Development zone! I go through a sprint of about two weeks, during which I could be scoping, building, testing or releasing a build. This means everything from meeting with people to find out what they want to be able to do and what they need to know from the data in order to do it, to interpreting those requirements into technical design and business logic, to following detailed test and release processes. I have to do lots of work in Excel and SQL. All the things I do have to be documented of course. I also write user training, record user walkthroughs and/or write user communications. 5. Often, I'll spend some time providing second or third line support to our IT helpdesk, to help them diagnose issues where a deep understanding of the system is needed to figure out what's happened. 6. Equally often, I'll spend some time providing data protection or data management advice to users and deal with any potential data protection issues such as breaches or deletion requests. "

"Secondary education (GCSE/O-Levels) GCSE English Language, English Literature, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, Geography, History, Religious Studies, IT & Graphic Design, General Studies (all A) Post secondary education (College, A-levels, NVQ3 or equivalent) A Level Biology (B), Religious Studies (A), English Literature (A), General Studies (A). Undergraduate degree (BSc, BA, etc.) BSc 2:1 Computer Animation & Special Effects. "