Benjamin Firth Professional Development Questions:
What is your greatest strength and how do you know?
- I believe that my greatest strength is my sense of positivity. I’m very good natured, and this manifests in self-confidence and the ability to persevere through hardships. I believe that given direction and time, my boundaries for achievement are virtually limitless. I think that this outlook also can help those around me.
How do you work best?
- I work best when acting as an individual in charge of a smaller part of a larger project in a team. I like individual autonomy, but feel a lack of grounding without a larger scope or vision. Also working with others makes me strive to be better. This comes from a competitive streak, but I think it largely is helpful.
What is your greatest area of improvement?
- I need to work on organization. I have gotten by with good memory and natural ability, but I suspect in a program like Turing that won’t be enough. I’m actually excited by this, as I’ve always known that organization isn’t my strength. This will give me a wonderful opportunity to work on it.
How do you hope to maximize your strengths for your new career in software development?
- I think that my ability to stay positive and put in whatever work is needed to find a solution will absolutely be helpful. I’m able to maintain the outlook that I will figure out something, so eventually I do. This will have to be tempered a bit to fit a client’s budget as that could be based on hours worked. I think that this mindset will help for Turing especially though. I’m ready to put in the time.
How might knowing about your strengths and working preferences benefit you as a software developer?
- Knowing about how I work best will help me structure my daily habits in a way that is most beneficial to both the company and myself. There are always restrictions put in place by the organization, but the ability to customize my own conditions around that in a way that compliments my learning and working style will keep me motivated and productive. It will also guide me in choosing a company to work for. If I know how I work best, I can look for a company that most closely matches my own practices.
