Meet our Academy Consultants – Izzey

People join the Ten10 Academy from a wide range of backgrounds, many of them studying entirely different degrees and having never written a line of code before in their lives. Take Izzey, who studied History and Journalism before applying to the Academy. She gave us some of her time to tell her journey through training, what work she’s completing with her client, and how independent she’s become so early in her career.

How do you feel you’ve transitioned from the Ten10 Academy to your client work?

It’s been a really nice transition, and it’s definitely been made easier due to the training from the Academy. It’s very much set me up for the work environment of the client I’m in, with the tools and foundation aspects of it, but also with it being an agile environment, knowing how stand-ups work, and talking with stakeholders, I know how to communicate effectively. When you’re not from a technical background (like I wasn’t) it’s easy to lack confidence going into something like this, but the Academy focuses a lot on attitude to learning. I was keen to learn everything and I was encouraged to. Having no prior experience was not something I needed to worry about because I could ask questions about anything.

Take us through your placement and tell us what client teams you’ve worked with

I arrived at my client placement just before the summer, and I’m currently focusing on API migration, so I’m moving customers from one API to another. Looking into APIs has been really interesting because I had some experience from the Academy, but I’ve really built my knowledge working within my placement. Each customer may have a different requirement, so knowing how to communicate well was really important. I also didn’t expect to be very confident going into this role, but the Academy helped me feel ready for anything within the tech industry.

What parts of the Ten10 Academy have been most useful in your placement?

Definitely the stakeholder management, both in core and additional training. Knowing how to communicate with everyone, from colleagues to stakeholders and customers, is key to my role, along with the process of the work environment. It was so much fun to go through this in the Academy that you don’t even think about the fact that you’re learning, but you pick up so much without realising.

What is a normal working day or week for you?

I’m in the office Monday to Friday, which I really love. I usually get in 15 minutes early as I want to be organised! I check all my emails and messages first thing to see if there are any updates I need to be aware of, and I look at my calendar to see if there are any scheduled calls with customers. I have to be aware of where my customers are in the migration process, so I need to ensure the tickets are up to date and if the customers have any questions, I’m there to support them.

I’ve recently also been put on another project to help out on with some other Ten10 Academy consultants from a different cohort, which has been so lovely to meet them. They are a couple of months ahead of me within the role, so I can ask them any questions and they’re always happy to help.

Have your roles or responsibilities changed during your time on placement?

My confidence has definitely grown the more I’m here, learning things on the job and being able to ask any questions has been great. The opportunity to work on other projects has been really nice too, so I can dip into other aspects of the tech industry and learn even more. The responsibility of the customer calls has changed, from shadowing someone to handling them independently, which has been really fulfilling for me to reflect on how far I’ve come in such a short time.

What technology tools, frameworks, and processes have you gained experience with since starting your client work?

Day-to-day, we use ReadyAPI, which has been interesting to learn. Having come from a non-tech background, I never thought I would be able to use tools like this so effectively! Using email and video software is also something so simple, but learning the process of how to communicate correctly and set things up on there has been something I do every day.

How has your client supported your development?

We have daily standups where we’re encouraged to ask questions about different projects. We also have 1:1s to check in and see if there is anything else we want to get involved with on the client site. They’re always encouraging us to learn something new, which I love, aside from just having a lovely non-work-related chat to know your colleagues on a personal level!

What support have you received from Ten10 during your placement?

Ten10 are always available for me to upskill, and I’m always able to contact them or the wellbeing team if I need to. I love still being in touch with [other members of] Ten10, joining in with the socials and keeping in touch with people from my cohort on different client sites. I’m starting to get involved in working with Ten10 on some Lunch and Learns, to teach people training in the Academy some knowledge I picked up on my placement, so they can see where the Academy can lead you and what skills you pick up.

Have you been given any extra opportunities through your client work?

Learning about the other projects going on at my client has been the best thing for me, to get both a wider company view and to learn more skills. I get to sit side by side with other people working on them, and I love being able to get involved with different aspects as much as I can.

If there’s anybody watching this who’s thinking about applying to the Ten10 Academy, what would you say to them?

Don’t overthink it and just apply! I was personally very much in my own head about it originally, especially not having a tech background, but the Academy is a really nice mix of different people and different backgrounds. I know now I can grow in any aspect of tech I want, and I’m so glad I made the decision to just go for it.