Meet Sindy! She’s part of our in-house development team.

As technology is an area where women are traditionally under-represented, we thought International Women’s Day would be the perfect time to chat to Sindy about her current role and goals for the future.

What team do you work on, and what is the teams focus/current goals?

I work on the Onyx development team, we have created and continue to update a new system that is being rolled out to our Activate Accident Repair sites. 

What does your day-to-day typically look like as a software developer at Activate Group?

We have a daily debrief – we all get to share our current plans for the day, and any issues we may be facing, which is useful as we all help one another to find solutions. Tuesdays are also really busy days for us, as we showcase where our projects currently are to developers and other in the business for feedback. 

How have your skills developed whilst working at Activate Group?

This is my first job out of university, but I’ve been here just under 2 years now so my skills have definitely progressed. Actively taking on a variety of different challenging projects has helped develop my skills where I can tackle any projects confidently. 

How do you see your career developing in the future at Activate Group?

Currently I’m a mid-level software developer, so naturally the next step for me would be senior software developer. This would mean running stand-up meetings and releases. It’s definitely something I keep in mind to aim for, and there’s plenty of support in place from my team for me to reach that next stage in my career. 

What’s a challenge you’ve faced, and how did you overcome it? 

When I first started I was on the Claims Management System team, and within a few months I moved to the Onyx team. There was some transition as the two teams used different software applications so different approaches were in place for development, joining a new team and settling in is a big change, but I just went for it. I’ve learnt so much from both teams and gained valuable experience! 

What do you enjoy most about your job? 

There are different areas to the system, and there are always improvements to be made. This makes you quite creative in finding different solutions, thinking outside of the box. 

What’s been your biggest achievement so far working at Activate Group?

Seeing my progress and skills develop from having no experience, to now almost 2 years of experience. I feel I’m still learning, constantly picking up new things. I also feel I’m working towards the company’s purpose of making someone’s bad day better, by helping create a really good system and developing solutions that make current out-dated processes better with Onyx, which is a great feeling. 

What advice would you give to women wanting to enter this field?

I know it can seem to be intimidating as it’s a male-dominated field, but just go for it. Don’t shy away from the difficult things – you can learn so much! That’s where my progress has been made.