Kelly Thomson

"I feel that my three personality matches, (Developer, Influencer and Investigator), fit me very well. The Developer personality states that the person is;CreativeInterested in the world around them and how to make it betterUnderstands the needs of othersLikes to make things better (products and services)Can work on own or in a teamEnjoys learning new thingsFlexible & PracticalInquisitive & strong willedProblem solverand the Influencer states;DiplomaticGood at explaining so that people understandGood with detailCan work on their own or in a teamGood at finding and reviewing informationCan think outside the boxThorough and reliablePoliteHas leadership qualitiesand the Investigator;Likes to work things out logicallyGood at collecting ideas and information from people (and things)Good at understanding lots of different thingsWorks well in a teamGreat at remembering facts (and putting them together)Problem solverHonest & EthicalCooperative & IntelligentEnjoys readingThey also match my current job as a software engineer, where I occasionally have to lead discussions and meetings, have to be able to solve problems in a logical way and have to be able to explain very technical details to non-technical customers so I need to be able to use language that they will understand. I also have to do a fair bit of reading and research in my job and often have to learn new skills/technologies whilst developing software which includes them. So being flexible and adaptable is a must for my job. Sometimes, meeting can get either stale, not enough ideas are being generated,or can get heated, when people are so invested in their own ideas that they will not listen to others. In these scenarios, it helps to be diplomatic for the heated and to be creative for the stale."

"I mainly write code for specific tasks that customers define, give customers daily updates on my progress on the tasks and work with my team to ensure that tasks are fulfilled to the highest possible quality. The outcome of my work is custom software for customers which performs jobs that they need to do, for example in a recent project I was on, customers wanted software which took video frames containing certain images out of the video and for the images to be saved to the computer.The thing that I like most about my job is that no two days are ever the same. For example, one day I can be coding to fulfill a task for customers and the next I can be travelling to a customer site to give a presentation on my work.The typical starting salary for my job is £26,000. "

"I always enjoyed Physics and maths at school, so I decided to study Physics at the University of Strathclyde. I decided to go to uni because; No one in my family had gone before I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for a career yetBut most importantly I went because I enjoyed the subject and wanted to learn more about it. During university in my final 2 years I was involved in a BioPhysics project which introduced me to computational chemistry. I thoroughly enjoyed the project and thought I might like to do this for a career, however every job posting stated that I should have a PhD in a relevant field. So I decided to embark on a PhD in the Chemical Engineering department at Strathclyde upon completing my degree. During this time I taught myself how to code and discovered my love for it. I made the decision that I would pursue a career in software development. I did this because there are more software jobs than there are computational chemist positions. I was a little worried that I had no formal software qualifications and that I was self taught, however I have learnt that companies value experience of any kind and appreciate when you ask them to rephrase a question if you don't know the particular jargon. I eventually started my career as a software developer in 2018 at Leidos."

"I enjoy playing video games in my spare time, especially RPGs, although these days I don't get much time to 100% every game like I used to when I was a teenager. I also enjoy building and painting miniature models which I make to play Dungeons and Dragons with my friends. Besides games I love getting out in nature and will often go for long walks in the woods to clear my head and see if I can see any wildlife. I like a quiet Friday night in watching movies, reading books and spending time with my loved ones."

"A typical day can vary a lot for me. For example, when I am on a project I would work in a team of software developers to write code which solves a customers problems. Each developer had their own set of coding tasks to complete and needs to update customers on their progress everyday. I also help customers to install software over Skype and fix any issues that come up during the installation process. However writing software is not all I do, I am a STEM Ambassador and I get the chance to help out with both recruitment and STEM events that Leidos runs. This can involve getting kids as young as 4 to understand our technology and learn something new, which is something that I enjoy seeing. Recently, I have been on training at my company and that means studying for exams to earn professional qualifications. I enjoy learning new things so this time has been great for me."

"I left school at the end of my 6th year to study Physics at the University of Strathclyde in 2009. I then completed my degree in 2014 and decided to do a PhD in Chemical Engineering also at the University of Strathclyde. During my PhD I taught myself how to code and decided that this was what I wanted to do for a career. I then started my current job in September 2018.Highers (2008): A-Chemistry, A-Physics, B-Mathematics, B-English, B-FrenchAdvanced Highers (2009): B-Physics, B-Chemistry, B-Mathematics2:1 MPhys Physics with specialization in Nanoscience University of Strathclyde (2009-2014)PhD Chemical Engineering University of Strathclyde (2014-Present)Professional Certifications:Certified Scrum master Leidos (2018)Certified Product Owner Leidos (2018)Microsoft certified: Azure Fundamentals (May 2020)Python Institute-Certified Associate in Python Programming (June 2020)AWS-Technical Professional accreditation (June 2020)"