Women in STEM-computing and IT guide

So I'm studying a BSc Open Degree with STEM modules.

I'm also applying for developer jobs and have had interviews.

My area is computing and IT.

There's various areas and one of them is development and programming.

To put yourself ahead of the pack while on your degree, you should develop your own projects in various languages such as Javascript and c# which are popular and in demand as well as node, react, angular.

These projects could be a web application such as a dashboard of some kind, a chat bot, some other web application or/and a video game etc.

Develop skills such as databases, git, Linux, test driven development, oop, php etc. There are many more depending on the languages such as c# which are using Winforms, Microsoft azure.

I've had employers come back stating I am not the right fit however this just means I don't have the right skills.

You could also do a Udacity nanodegree in artificial intelligence, machine learning along with your degree which could take up to 3-6 months to complete.

Also for other jobs such as networking, you should start off with the n+ certification, purchase a network kit for home and play around with it. Then volunteer and get yourself a ccna certification then shoot for those network admin, junior network engineer roles.

IT security is also in demand and I've read somewhere there is a shortage of those professionals so also knowing networking is key such as subnetting. There are certifications to get you started.

It is fundamental you have knowledge in firewalls, server, network, software. The daily tasks could range from threat monitoring to security configuration to software patching.

For software testing/qa you could do your own projects as a test case, test id, description, expected result, actual result, pass/fail as well as use various techniques such as automated testing, pen testing, black box testing etc.

Knowing agile is key, scrum and Kanban is widely used. Also test tools such as selenium etc.

Also learn postman. This is an API test tool used by QA’s also used by developers to create test’s outside of VSTS.

While on your degree, you could volunteer for a company, try and obtain a summer placement or take an industrial work placement year.

I'm not an expert and this isn't a definite guide however I hope this helps!