Clare Barton has spent her entire professional life in people-facing roles, helping customers in her library science-focused career. With a Bachelor’s in Literature and a Master’s in Library and Information Science, she was using her logical thinking skills for research, but over time she found that her strength lies more behind-the-scenes, or as she calls it, “being a cog within the gears of an organization.”
Barton enrolled in DigitalCrafts‘ Full-Stack Immersive bootcamp to employ that knack for logical thinking within technology. During her time there, she found a correlation between her knitting hobby and coding, which she says both require attention to detail and problem-solving.
Barton wants to continue learning and indulging her curiosity on a large team at a mid-size company, where she can learn from colleagues with different backgrounds. Does she sound like a good fit for your team? Learn more about her below.
Why the interest in the technology field?
Logical thinking is one of my strengths, and while syntax may differ, the logic of programming languages is the same language that I think in. While I have spent many years in front-facing positions in my career, and I do love and am good at helping people, I am ready to be a part of the inner workings of a company.
I have found that being a cog within the gears of an organization, rather than being the face of it, is where my strength is.
What tech projects have you worked on?
In group projects at DigitalCrafts, I’ve developed a sharing app/site using PostgreSQL, Node.js, and Express; a React app using a recipes API for users to select recipes based on which national cuisine they are in the mood for; and another React app using a music API for niche genre music fans.
On my own, I’ve redesigned a website for an internationally-known fiber artist who teaches online classes, and I am tinkering around with a couple other app ideas.
What tech/tools are essential to you as a developer?
I like Visual Studio Code, and my personal laptop is a MacBook but I have used plenty of PCs in my time. I generally use Chrome Developer Tools for debugging, the terminal, AWS for deployment, Postico, and Postman. Otherwise, a good internet connection and a Spotify playlist going and I’m set!
How do you stay on top of emerging trends?
The most important ingredient to staying informed is staying curious and indulging that curiosity. I follow several tech writers on Medium, in my Google news feed, through social media, and podcasts.
However, taking the time to read the articles and follow related links and indulge my curiosity is the critical part.
What are your best technical or creative skills?
I have an understanding of multiple programming languages, although at the present JavaScript is my favorite and my most advanced.
I have an affinity for relational databases. I think that technical and creative skills overlap in a lot of ways, for example, problem-solving and troubleshooting would fall under both those categories. In both, I am best at approaching an issue by gaining a thorough understanding of how it is supposed to work and working to find a logical solution from there, rather than wildly brainstorming.
Logical thinking is another strength that falls under both technical and creative skill. One analogy that I have found within my own life is that I have been a knitter for many years, and coding is very similar to knitting, even down to the debugging.
What’s next on your list to learn?
I want to explore D3 data visualization and Twilio. I have a couple app ideas that I’m working on as well as expanding my proficiency in all things JavaScript. I’d like to dig into some interesting APIs out there and play with databases more.
The most honest answer to this question is everything, because while I know some things, I also know that I’ll never know everything, which is actually one of the beautiful things about the technology field.
Are you interested in working for a startup, mid-sized company, or a corporate giant?
I would prefer to work with a mid-size or larger organization because as a beginner in this field, I value having many team members to work with that can provide advice or be a mentor to me. As a parent, having the security of an established organization is important as well.
Interested in looking at Clare’s credentials? Here you go! GitHub, Portfolio, and LinkedIn.
