My Makers experience, from Onsite to Remote
Jason started Makers as an onsite student. When Coronavirus hit, things moved online. Here he shares his first hand experience.
What you were doing before Makers?
Before Makers, I was a GI actuary for a Lloyd’s of London syndicate. It involved helping businesses to mitigate risks and reduce their financial damage from large scale events such as natural disasters and cyber attacks.
Why did you pick Makers?
The Makers alumni I spoke to gave overwhelmingly positive feedback on both the experiences and skills gained during their time there, more so than any other bootcamp. The large careers team and list of reputable hiring partners also gave me confidence in their process.
How was the process of switching from onsite to remote? Did you feel supported by Makers?
At first, I found it tough. I picked an onsite programme because I prefer working face to face with people. I’d spent two great months working and socialising with everybody onsite.
Before the transition Makers made sure we had a few workshops on working remotely which definitely helped. In addition, the coaches have actively made themselves available online to offer assistance in the morning when needed.
Making Zoom Pro available to students would improve the support as the free version limits the amount of time you can hold online meetings for, but overall, I felt the switch was handled well.
Have you worked from home before? Any tips?
I worked the odd day from home previously but the work I had didn’t involve continuous collaboration like pair programming. What works for me is to emulate a normal day in the office for example sticking to a daily schedule, going for a ‘mini-commute’ in the morning, starting work at my regular time, and setting my work station up away from distractions like the bed and my PS4…
What are you building for your final project and how’s it been to work with the team remotely?
My team’s final project is an app intended to facilitate social decision making between friends to use during lockdown, for example what movie to watch together or where eat collectively.
We’ve worked hard to keep efficiency at a high level whilst offsite although I’d have preferred to work in the same place as the team. Keeping clear and concise documentation and maintaining open communication has proved to be just as important remotely as it is onsite. Thanks to the dedication and enthusiasm from each and every member of our team I’ve really enjoyed it.
