Junior iPhone Developer

COMPANY: UsTwo

TITLE: Junior iPhone Developer

I work on programming for our iPhone and iPad products. Eventually I will have to put together a project myself from the beginning but so far I have been fortunate to work on existing projects.  Either bug fixing or developing new features.

I interact with the producers and designers at the studio so that there is a clear outline for what needs to be done.  

The company doesn't currently have someone working QA so I also help out by testing when I have the time and providing feedback.

RELATED DEGREE:

Currently studying Computer Science and Games Technology  (Bsc) at City University London.  Finished my second year and doing a 1 year placement at the company before going back to do my third and final year.

WORK EXPERIENCE:

• Worked in retail, customer service and most recently as a team leader to accounts managers.  None of this is at all related to what I do at the company or my degree.
• I was recommended to the company by a friend who works here and did one day a week for about half a year while I studied before being taken on as a full time intern.

SKILLS REQUIRED:

• As I'm developing for apple products, objective-c (programming language) is the main skill required. I've studied a couple of programming languages at university so far so I'm getting into it quite well.  I often feel like I don't know what I'm doing but I think that's part of being a developer and your skill comes from being able to research what you don't know.  There is so much involved that you can't be an expert at everything (especially not over night).
• Attention to detail and a drive to get things just right.  We have designers for our user interfaces and experiences so the look and feel is mostly set out but we need to turn that into reality and it's important to get your ideas across if something doesn't feel right.

BENEFITS OF THE JOB:

• I get to work in an industry that I love and with wonderful working conditions. It's so refreshing to be out of a stuffy office environment but still be in a technical field.
• I know a lot of people would kill for an opportunity like I have here so the benefit really is the job itself.
• The great people I get to work with and not being out in the sticks are also pretty big pluses.

CAREER GOALS:

I'm really enjoying building my skills as a developer. It's an interesting experience to be learning again instead of being at a higher level in my career.  I'm also in an industry where creativeness is encouraged so that needs a new mindset from me.

Depending on how well I take to development, I think that I will continue doing this for a time but ultimately I would like to be a producer.  I feel that this would give me the freedom to explore multiple projects as well as combining my management skills learned through my working career with my new skills as a developer.