Codeweavers

29/03/19

People

Getting to where I want to be Developer to Marketer in 6 months

I’ve been working at Codeweavers for six months come mid-March, and a lot of things have changed since I started.

My son has grown ever older and better at out-smarting child locks; my role in the company has morphed into something entirely different; and, arguably most importantly, the dev team that I sit with no longer has the strength or mental energy to argue with my music choices and perpetual hogging of the Bluetooth speaker.

How it began

I was hired as a Digital Documentation Developer. Or a Digital Document Engineer. Basically, my role was very much my own to shape. My undergraduate degree was a course in creative media that involved graphic design, photography, 3D modelling, filmography and computer science.

I had a wide education, but not a particularly deep one, which meant I came to my Codeweavers interview to discuss not only my skills and interests but my limitations as well. We agreed on a fluid role that would focus on occasionally designing but mostly developing company correspondence templates.

Working with the front-end development

Working with the front-end team was a great experience. I was thrown into a project during week one and learned to use the appropriate Codeweavers products and tools as I went.

Everyone in my team, Team Phoebe, was happy to help point me in the right direction when I needed it, as well as to help me put right the things I did wrong. Ours is a friendly laidback team and there’s lots of music and humour alongside our work, and I love working with them.

A change in role

What I loved less was the prospect of delving much deeper into development.

Alongside working at Codeweavers, I submitted my dissertation for my Master’s degree in creative writing this year as well. Writing and editing has always been my passion. In a series of meetings, the HR team, development team, and the directors looked at how to better utilise the skills I was more interested in. Because of this, most of my tasks for the last month have been copy-based rather than development work. I proof and edit blog posts and email content, as well as help to write copy for big upcoming projects. I love it!

Gaining confidence

It’s hard, sometimes, to ask for what you want.

I let my longing for more writing work linger and my insecurities about my development work fester for longer than I should have because part of me felt that I should just be grateful to have a job at all.

If it weren’t for the incredible HR at Codeweavers that came after me following a review about my performance to make sure I was happy with where things were going, I wouldn’t have confessed that I wasn’t doing my most fulfilling work. The company wouldn’t have looked at where they needed my writing proficiency either, and we wouldn’t all be benefiting going forward with the change in role.

Going forward

it’s a comfort to know that I work for a company that’s so eager to make sure I’m happy at work, and I’m excited to get involved with my new, more writing-focused job role and to see what journey through Codeweavers that takes me!

If I could give only one bit of advice from my most recent experiences, it’d be to have more faith in yourself. If you want something, ask for it! Explain how you feel to your employers, chat about your job satisfaction. Communicate.

You never know if there are spaces in a company for you to fill unless you ask!

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