Science
Describe your job – what do you do?
Matthew Dickie Job history 2022 Technical Analyst Jembi Health Systems 2021 Developer/Analyst Jembi Health Systems 2019–2020 Mid-level Developer Jembi Health Systems 2017–2018 Junior Developer Jembi Health Systems
Academic history 2016 BMedSci Honours in Bioinformatics University of Cape Town 2013–2015 BSc in Biochemistry and Genetics University of Cape Town
My job title is very vague due to the scope of my work. Primarily, I develop software. I lead a team of software engineers developing health data exchange software for national systems. Being a senior developer in a small company means you’re a jack of all trades. My day consists of writing code, architecting software designs, fixing bugs, writing tests, and reviewing my colleagues' code. I’m also a line manager for two developers and a fair amount of my time goes towards coaching them (pair programming) and making sure they are growing in their careers. When needed I am also part of the recruiting team. I interview candidates, build a rapport, test their skills, and if I’m happy with them pass them on to management. A smaller part of my job is data and business analysis. This involves liaising with clients and partners to get their requirements.
What pulled you towards becoming a developer? Honestly, job security. I became disabled in my third year at UCT and I knew that I would need a reliable well paying job to support my needs. At the same time, I did not want to be a developer in any field.
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My undergrad was in Biochemistry and Genetics, my honours in Bioinformatics, I have a passion for science and helping people so I was incredibly lucky that my first job was at a non-profit public health company. If I’d gone into fin-tech, I probably wouldn’t have excelled the way I did at Jembi.
How do your degrees help you in your current role? My degrees did not prepare me well for the development side of my job. I took CompSci as an elective in first year and the knowledge I gained there has helped a bit. My Bioinformatics also helped a little as it forced me to practice my coding. Unfortunately, none of my courses taught me how to code well or the value of neatness and consistency within a project. But overall, my science degrees did teach me excellent general analysis skills that transfer over into software development and data analysis.
What has been a highlight of your career so far? The highlight of my career has been taking on the responsibility of being a line manager. I’ve had two excellent managers in my career and two rather less than.
