Becoming a T-shaped engineer

The FT's Angelique Vu on how she switched from the creative arts to software engineering

A T-shaped engineer is one with deep experience in one area (the vertical line in the T) and a broad range of other supporting skills (the top of the T). Such individuals are often highly valued by agile organisations since their versatility makes them a good fit for fast-changing environments. At Computing and CRN's Women in Tech Festival UK last week, software engineer Angelique Vu explained how she became T-shaped.

For many technologists, life's path is set at school with an early proclivity for maths and sciences, but this is not the case for all.

"Becoming interested in a career in technology can often start at a young age. But the opposite is true as well. You can really be put off a career in tech or in STEM when you're young," said Vu, speaking from experience. Despite the best efforts of her parents and teachers she had little affinity for maths and the sciences and dropped them as soon as she could.

"I didn't like those subjects," she said. "I found them really challenging and felt I wasn't any good at them."

Instead, Vu went into the creative arts. Inspired by reading about a creative designer and entrepreneur in a magazine article, Vu enrolled in a three-year graphic design and new media course in her native Australia. On graduation, she did a stint with a local newspaper then, aged 21, applied for the role of art director with the prestigious publisher Fairfax Media.

"I don't know why I went for that post because I had very little hands-on experience," she said. "But anyway I got the job, which was a shock to me. It just goes to show you that sometimes roles that you think are beyond your range are worth going for."

A couple of years later Fairfax began publishing its magazines online and Vu started getting involved with Méthode, the content management system (CMS). This was the start of what was to become a long-term involvement with tech.

"I worked alongside the project team who were implementing this new software, and I remember going to my first ever stand up with the project managers," she said. "It all felt so foreign to me. Then basically I learned CSS over the shoulder of a colleague and he became an informal mentor to me."

Ultimately, Vu grasped the fundamentals of web UI and went on to design the firm's first iPad app, but then she got itchy feet and took off to France for a year. Later in 2102, she started at the Financial Times in London. "They were looking for someone with experience in this new publishing software [Méthode], as well as design experience," she said.

Once again, she found herself way out of her depth.

"I had very little hands-on experience as a software engineer, but I dived right in and started from the bottom at the age of 27. It was a very steep learning curve," she said.

I was surrounded by a lot of left-brain thinkers and I had to change the way I communicated

"I was surrounded by a lot of left-brain thinkers and I had to change the way I communicated. In my previous role, I had worked with editors and reporters and art directors and when talking to them, I could describe things in fairly vague terms. But now in technology I had to learn to be precise and factual and logical and very explicit in how I was describing things. So that was a hurdle for me, really."

She also learned to code both front-end and back-end systems (she prefers front-end) and to be analytical in her thinking.

"I learned how to work through code that was broken and to fix it and come up with a solution. And I love that, I find that really rewarding. I also like to be able to construct something with code and see the effects very, very quickly."

She even got used to stand-up meetings, taking a Scrum Master course and educating herself in the ways of Agile development.

Vu is now an important member of the tech team at the FT and is involved with new projects both as an engineer and a UX designer. She credits her various managers and colleagues for helping her to pivot her career, for taking a chance on her despite her lack of experience, pairing her with more experienced developers and giving her tasks appropriate to her skill level so she could grow. There are few essential personal attributes to becoming T-shaped, she believes.

Always being open to learning new things. Always

"The transferable skills that helped me move from a creative role to a technical role were being attentive to detail, being good at teamwork, and having a calm manner when dealing with users and production disasters. Then there's learning the system and solving problems, being comfortable in the newsroom and also always being open to learning new things. Always."

Being involved in areas not directly connected to the role is another way to broaden skills and experience. In 2014 Vu founded FT Women UK, an internal group that discusses equality issues such as the gender pay gap and showcases female leadership at the newspaper. She still chairs the group.

"That's the side project I'm most proud of," she said.

Vu concluded her talk with some advice for companies. Investing in and supporting junior developers who have not come straight from college is a good way of increasing diversity in the department and becoming more flexible, she said. Meanwhile, for individuals the key is to say 'yes' to opportunities as they arise and to be willing to take risks.

"And always keep learning," she advised. "That's the way to become even more T-shaped."