officially a software developer
In 2023, I applied for a Software Developer role in the Civil Service.
I applied because I saw an opening for a full-time role that aligned with one of my favorite aspects of my then-current job: writing and maintaining .NET web apps.
Honestly, I applied with the modest hope of maybe getting an interview. My goal was to understand the process, spot any gaps in my knowledge, and sharpen my interview skills.
I took a day of annual leave for the interview, bought one of those stereotypical tech books with a random animal on the cover (this one, to be precise), and kept the entire process under wraps. After a challenging practical component and a technical interview I’d rather forget, I tried to put it out of my mind—though the uncertain status of my secondment lingered.
A few days later, I got a call from the hiring manager. I’d come in second, a very close second, to a candidate who performed better in the technical interview. Fair enough. I’d done awfully in that interview; my lack of a computer science degree and firm fundamentals showed. But the manager was considerate, offering constructive feedback on my practical work, particularly highlighting my attention to accessibility and code completion. He also mentioned something about a reserve list and asked if I’d be open to being on it in case any future roles came up. Thinking it was just a courtesy, I agreed and wished him the best.
About a year passed, and occasionally I’d think back to that interview process and how it should’ve motivated me to do more personal development or apply for similar roles. As it turned out, I wouldn’t need to. Around four months ago, the same hiring manager reached out, asking if I was still interested in the position. I accepted.
There was a Reddit thread I saw once on /r/dotnet that summed up what I do pretty well: I make and maintain CRUD with sprinkles. And I fucking love it.
I’m still very much in the honeymoon phase, but the role is everything the memes promised: Scrum, Agile, Slack, standups, stakeholders, deliverables, code reviews, retrospectives, wireframes. Bliss.
Hello, I’m Tom, and I am a Software Developer.