My Journey from Curious Kid to Vodafone Software Developer

I've been fascinated by technology for as long as I can remember. I was an incredibly curious kid – there wasn't a single toy I wouldn't take apart to figure out how it worked. My parents weren't fond of this hobby, but the destruction largely ended at age six, when I got my first computer.

Figuring out how computers worked proved a challenge worthy of my curiosity. In fact, I haven’t stopped learning about them ever since. In the beginning, my focus was exclusively on coding my own games, but as I grew up, I realised the possibilities of digital technology were endless. I eventually decided to combine my technical abilities with my deep desire to help people – I wanted to become a software developer.

Today I find myself at Vodafone, using my skills to develop software that connects people across the world.

Vodafone: expectation vs reality

Before I joined Vodafone, I held the company in high regard. From my perspective, Vodafone always seemed to get everything right – they had the best products, the best service and the best software. They always seemed to introduce new technologies first, so when I was offered the chance to join their team, I quickly said yes.

After I joined, I was happy to see that there was truth to my outsider’s view of Vodafone; that this reputation for innovation wasn’t just a façade. I was introduced to the latest software engineering technologies and techniques, and the advanced development processes that fuelled them.

What did surprise me, however, was how friendly and familiar the Vodafone community felt. I feel like this stems from the unity and diversity that Vodafone as a company actively encourages, and I feel this every day as part of my team.

Since joining Vodafone in late 2021 I’ve had the opportunity to apply my skills in a new field – telecommunications – and my responsibilities have gradually increased. I’ve been given the opportunity to do more DevOps work, which is something I've always wanted to do, as well as partaking in a knowledge-sharing program between our teams in Ireland and Albania. I love being able to assist my teams in improving their work.

The technologies we use are cutting-edge, and our architecture is well thought out. It takes a while to understand everything, but once you do, this initial investment of time and effort is more than worth it.

Why I’m excited about working at Vodafone

One of the things I love most about Vodafone is that there are always projects to get excited about. I’m part of the Digital Experience Layer team – our primary goal is to make Vodafone services faster, better, and able to reach more users. We want everyone to enjoy the same level of connection across every market.

Right now, my team and I are working on a bunch of new features, but what really makes me excited is the development of new internal tools. These will help us deliver customer features faster and more efficiently, they’ll bring even more value to our team's work, and other teams will benefit from them too.

Vodafone is committed to fuelling the professional growth of its team members. Between Vodafone University, Grow with Vodafone, and LinkedIn Learning, we’re never short of education resources.

I find the most effective way to learn is with hands-on experience. Thankfully my team has been eager to teach me all about Vodafone’s microservice architecture, the infrastructure on which it runs, the modern frameworks used within it and more. They encourage me to ask questions which they promptly answer, they get me to write real code, and they review both the theory and the practice regularly.

I can confidently say that because of all this, my abilities have skyrocketed since joining Vodafone. The best part? I've still got so much to learn! I can't wait to one day be in the same spot as my colleagues, teaching a newcomer all this amazing stuff.

Ever since I was a child, my ultimate goal has been to use my technical skills to help others. By developing software that helps people connect, I’m proud to say that at Vodafone, I’m doing just that.