EmilyLalonde_Professional_Development.md

What is your greatest strength and how do you know?

My greatest strength at this point in time is my emotionally intelligence. It allows me to make decisions based on how they will affect my happiness and quality of life. I know that this is my greatest strength because my self-awareness at this point in my life allowed me to take a leap and leave my current career to pursue something that I believe will bring me greater hapiness and purpose.

How do you work best?

I work best as a part of a group. I feel that open discussion and bouncing ideas off of others is how I gain a more comprehensive understanding of the lesson at hand. When I read or learn a concept for the first time my views on how they should be applied are very textbook. It is when discussion with others and instruction are introduced that I become confident in my understanding of these new concepts.

What is your greatest area of improvement?

I aim to improve my confidence over the next seven months. Self-doubt and indecisiveness is my greatest weekness at this point in my life and I hope that through gaining confidence in my work and relationships while at turing it will help me overcome these obstables. I feel like at turing I will have a sense of purpose that has been lacking within my current career path and through that purpose my confidence will be boosted tremendously.

How do you hope to maximize your strengths for your new career in software development?

In the gear-up pre-work it was discussed how important it is to be empathetic in software development and fortunately I feel that empathy is one of my strongest personality qualities. I aim to utilize my skills in empathy to become a teammate that people both feel comfortable and look forward to working with. Active listening and self-awareness are essential to being a good software developer and I feel those strengths will help me to succeed at turing and beyond.

How might knowing about your strengths and working preferences benefit you as a software developer?

Being able to recognize your stengths and working preferences is ideal when working as a part of a software development team. Open communication allows for better work flow and understanding amongst collegues. If people understand your work flow and the areas in which you excel then they know better what to expect in a proffesional setting. It also helps you because you can honestly communicate where you might feel most useful on a project.

Nice reflections, @EmilyLalonde! It's great that you will be able to utilize your skills in empathy in software development. Oftentimes as a software developer, I find myself having to imagine what another person is doing / asking for specifically in order to do my job well, so I think that skill will serve you well!