Esther Ogunmefun, Software Developer

Software Developer

Esther's job title is Software Engineer at Compare the Market

What I do

I work on the mobile team, which is split into iOS and Android developers. We work in two-week blocks on different tickets – solving bugs, making a new section on the app or updating existing content or tools.

Esther at her desk working as a Software Developer

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How I became a technician

During the first COVID lockdown, I completed a two-week web development programme with Code First Girls, and that sparked my interest in coding. I still didn’t think it would be a career path, but one of the teachers thought I had a natural talent for it and suggested I look at the apprenticeship opportunities available through Makers.

I applied for an apprenticeship for Compare the Market, and to my surprise, I was successful. It started with a three-month boot camp covering a range of programming languages and techniques. After the boot camp, I started in the mobile team as an Android developer and here I am a year later. Although I am employed full-time, Compare the Market makes sure I have enough time to do my apprenticeship work and exams.

A typical day in my working life

I have a daily morning 9.00 am stand-up meeting, so I can touch base with my team before I work on tickets, which might involve bug fixes, making a new screen on an app, or an app update until lunchtime.

After lunch, I’ll either continue working on tickets or I might complete a code review where I check another engineer's work.

What I'm most proud of

I won the Top 20 Women in Software Power List Award 2021 – that was definitely the highlight! Someone I work with nominated me for the award, but I missed the email as it went to ‘junk’. So, when I received the email telling me I had won, it was a big shock, and for a while, I didn’t know what I had won! We went to the Financial Times for the Awards Ceremony, where I was presented with a certificate – it was a lovely occasion.

What I love most about my job

As I enjoy coding, I love the satisfaction at the end when you see an app you have worked on working or a piece of work actually in production. There are people across the UK using pages I have created on the Compare the Market app by myself, and that’s really fulfilling to know.

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