Tanya Howden

"I think the personality types that I got almost fully sum up what I'm like!I love finding new ways to bring subjects to life that some people might think are boring, so I think that the coach type matches up with that. We quite often have preconceptions about what it's like to be a scientist or software developer but sometimes we can be way off reality and these kind of industries change so quickly that sometimes it can be difficult to keep up and that's what I find the most exciting. With a background in Computer Science, I love solving problems and finding different ways to do things so the develop type definitely works there. I think that it's great to have a diverse team of people working together because that gives us the best results because we all use our different experiences and ideas to come up with the best plan of action."

"I currently work at a football club running digital education programmes and clubs which is quite surprising for some people because when you think about a football club you mostly just think about football being played. The truth is, there is so much more happening at football clubs than just games of football. Community is at the core of everything we do and the club want to show their local community that you don't need to have a certain background or look a certain way to be interested in coding, maths, engineering or science.The thing I love most about my job is that no two days are the same. I get to work with different young people each day and they ask different questions each time. We run lots of different coding workshops at the stadium and my favourite part of every workshop is seeing the moment when it all clicks together for each person and they understand what's going on inside the computer or in their program!"

"I decided at the end of high school that I wanted to study computer science at university with the aim of becoming a computing teacher afterwards. Once I had completed some work experience with different companies including global companies like Thomson Reuters, I thought that maybe I wanted to work for a really big company because that was a really fun experience and I got to meet so many different people. Throughout university, I realised that I really enjoy finding new ways to bring STEM subjects to life and make them accessible and exciting for everyone. This led to me having my first taste of working at a really small company called Robotical who at the time had less than 10 employees. I really enjoyed being part of such a small team because it meant that you got to do a little bit of everything even if it wasn't really part of your main role. I was in charge of creating different lessons and activities that you could do with our robot but I also got to help out with product development and marketing every now and then. I loved being able to put my ideas forward to the team to help develop the future of the company. I have had so many role models and mentors who have been there to support me along the way but as boring as it sounds, my top role model is most definitely my mum. She works in technology and she has been an inspiration for me and has always supported me with some great advice!"

"In my spare time, I like to spend time with friends, family and pets. On top of that, I really love watching ice hockey because it's such a fast paced game so I can be quite regularly found at an ice rink either trying to perfect my skating or cheering on the local ice hockey team!!"

"My working day changes everyday and can range from being in a room with 20 young people running a workshop where we learn about something related to STEM like coding our own animations or websites. On other days, I might be at my desk planning out what our programmes will include and what the young people will get from registering to the clubs. This is really important for me to think through because I want to make sure that everyone has a great time when they come to the stadium and it also provides information for our sponsors so they can understand how else they can help to support the programme. My favourite part of the job is definitely when I'm in the middle of running a workshop because it's a little bit chaotic but always great fun and rewarding!"

"BSc Computer Science"