I'm a writer and coder based in London. I've spent the past 20 years working as a journalist, editor and campaigner but am now switching to software development. I have a good head for problem solving and strong communications skills. I learn fast, and enjoy learning fast. I'm looking for a junior developer role where I can deploy these abilities to do something useful.
I've built a Chrome extension called Accent Grid that has 9,000 users worldwide (according to Google Play). It provides easy access to accented and special characters from within the Chrome browser. I was searching for a tool to do this, but couldn't find one – so I taught myself JavaScript and built it myself. See bat020.tumblr.com/accent-grid for more details or check out the code on github.com/bat020/accent-grid.
I've just completed an intensive coding course at Makers Academy which introduced me to Ruby, test driven development, Rails and AngularJS. My final project at Makers was Alarming, a "social alarm clock" phone app that sends out coordinated alarms for meetings and events.
Knight Chase is a fun toy I wrote at Makers with a colleague. It's a single page application written in pure JavaScript and jQuery that implements an unusual and intriguing two player strategy game.
I also have experience working in LISP, Prolog and a variety of traditional languages such as C and Fortran. I'm currently teaching myself Haskell and C#.
I have a great deal of experience in all aspects of communication – public speaking, writing, design, social media – that I've picked up in my 20 years as a journalist and editor covering all manner of topics. It's a skill that transfers easily to dealing with user interface aspects of coding, as well as being useful in a general business environment.
In my time as a journalist I've launched a magazine on financial risk management, edited newsletters, managed teams, put a national newspaper online every night, and reported on Occupy Wall Street.
My degree was in pure mathematics and I recently completed an MA in modern European philosophy. I have a talent for explaining abstract concepts: check out my essays and articles at bat020.com, or watch a recent talk I gave on maths and philosophy at youtu.be/mPu_FLlxWoU. I can solve a Rubik's Cube in under a minute, using an algorithm I developed myself.
12-week intensive course in all aspects of software development
MA in Modern European Philosophy
Diploma in Newspaper Journalism
BA Hons (first class) + Part III in Mathematics
A-levels in Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry (all A grade)
Freelance journalist (Jan 2013 to Sep 2015) mostly proofreading and copyediting journals, books, manuals
Sherborne Publications (Sep 2011 to Jan 2013) reporter, subeditor and web editor
Freelance journalist (Sep 2009 to Sep 2011) part-time work while studying for my MA in philosophy
Unite Against Fascism (Mar 2009 to Sep 2009) six-month stint as press officer for anti-racist campaign group
Sherborne Publications (Apr 2004 to Mar 2009) reporter and subeditor for various newspapers and magazines
Telegraph Newspapers (Jun 2002 to Apr 2004) web subeditor working on news, features and finance for telegraph.co.uk
Freelance journalist (Jan 2001 to Jun 2002) financial reporter writing about derivatives and risk management systems
Informa (Sep 1999 to Jan 2001) launch editor of Risk Professional, a magazine for financial risk managers
Waters Information Services (Sep 1993 to Sep 1999) reporter/editor specialising in derivatives trading systems