My One Year Journey as an RPA Developer

It has been a fantastic journey for me being an RPA Developer for one year. On the same day, 16 March 2020, I joined Ashling Partners. Thanks to Marshall Sied, Don Sweeney, and Brian Barrett for believing in me and accepting me for this position. I want to discuss three key points for this article.

1. How I become an RPA Developer?

2. Why Ashling Partners?

3. What did I learn in the first year?

How I became an RPA Developer?

From my previous experience working as a software developer, I have always been excited to learn new technologies for automating regular and routine tasks. That is where my interests met with a keyword I found through a Google search called "RPA" (Robotic Process Automation). Since then, I have started learning more about RPA and followed the tutorials by UiPath. Here, I should mention UiPath because its platform for anyone to learn about RPA is very educative. Not only the e-learning platform but the community they've created for the RPA enthusiasts is highly appreciated. Because of my growing interest in this technology, I shifted my career from a software developer to an RPA developer and started applying for the roles. This is where I came across Ashling Partners and met Brian Barrett at one of UiPath's annual events. Things started falling into the right place, which called me up for an interview at Ashling Partners, followed by a job offer.

Why Ashling Partners?

The first thing I liked about the team at Ashling Partners was "openness." Everyone at Ashling Partners is very open, friendly, motivating, and fun to work with. Every employee is given equal importance no matter what role they are working in. They celebrate and applaud every small milestone the team or employee has achieved. "Tech Thursday" sessions conducted primarily for all the developers were very helpful in learning the different concepts and techniques that the other developers are using in their projects. It also allows a new developer to learn and ask for help in any situation. Most importantly, the weekly status call conducted for everyone at Ashling Partners shows their passion for their work. In the weekly call, we discuss the people at Ashling, what to expect in the future, and innovative learning sessions. A significant takeaway about the weekly call at Ashling Partners is "Moments of Gratitude." Every week, we get to express gratitude towards anyone who has helped us throughout the company. This alone shows the growth mindset and positivity being inculcated at Ashling Partners. Thanks to Don and Marshall for building this amazing culture at work.

What did I learn in the first year?

Being an RPA Developer is not an easy task. I came across many technical challenges and critical situations that required me to use my logical and creative thinking. Coming from a Software Developer background has helped in this where you can grasp things quickly and provide solutions. But, at Ashling, we have an experienced developer community who helps us in any situation. However, I enjoyed being an RPA developer and automating human tasks, saving many hours from their routine work. The important things I learned in the first year are:

• Come up with some innovative ideas.

• Always think of making your code reusable.

• Build easy-to-scale solutions.

• Write easy-to-understand code.

• Experiment with new things every day.

This summarizes my experiences in the first year of being an RPA Developer. I am thankful to my family and everyone who has helped me throughout my RPA journey. Thanks to the Ohana (Ashling Partners) and the fantastic RPA community. There are many more great topics to cover and many things to learn.