Before RDT I spent 20 years in the Civil Service in IT, but was made redundant when the government decided to outsource its IT overseas. However I had never wanted to work in an office - at 16 I got a YTS apprenticeship in hydraulic engineering and machinery. After that I worked briefly as a builder, then started working at the Department for Education and Employment as a porter. I quickly progressed and would take on any extra responsibility and training that was offered, and eventually left to join the Radiocommunications Agency. Once there I became a super user for their IT system and finally transferred into the IT department as a tester.
My role at RDT has evolved as the company grew. When I first started I was part of the test team under the test manager, dealing with the support queue. This gave me a good oversight of all areas of Landscape. RDT adopted an agile approach a couple of years ago and, had I not had to take time off because of a shoulder injury, I would have been the second tester to join an agile team. When I came back to work I joined an agile team working on a web-based system to support first notification of loss. This was a challenging time as I had to learn agile process, which was very different from Civil Service work methods, and a new automated test tool. The project was a success and the client who took the work raised very few issues.
I am now on the Release team and enjoy the variety of my work. The level of diligence I learned in Civil Service - to read, re-read and question - can be annoying for my co-workers at times, but it ensures quality. I will not sign something off if I am not happy with it. I continue to raise questions especially where function is not consistent with other features.
Away from work I like to keep active. My evenings are filled with being Taxi Dad, servicing motorbikes, gardening and getting out on my mountain bike a few times a week. My weekends lately seem to be all about my 14-year-old boy and his motocross. For fun I do as many track days on my motorbike as my wife lets me get away with, and a lot of sea fishing.
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