Thomas Oakley's CV

Personal Profile

I'm Tom, a developer & designer who loves to create.

Since my first development role in 2015 I've used apprenticeships as a way to evolve at work.

I'm also a relentless tinkerer, in my own time I've worked everything from devops tools to automate tasks to couch games to play with friends.

Currently I'm working towards completing a Software Engineering degree with Arden University and Digital Native.

Why do I do this? Learning something new is a rewarding experience that I'll always engage in!

Taken by a costar for the "Yes, My Lord" production

Programming Languages

I've completed projects with all these technologies:

Category	Languages
Low Code	OutSystems
Docker, Jenkins & Bash (Linux command line) Browser Tech	HTML, CSS, & JavaScript
Browser Styling	SCSS & Tailwind
Frontend Framework	Angular (the google version)
Backend Tech	PHP, Node.js, C#, Java & Python
Backend Frameworks	Laravel, CodeIgniter, GraphQl & Express
Game Engines	Unity & Unreal
Devops	Docker, Jenkins & Bash (Linux command line)
Database	Sql Server, Oracle Database and MySQL

Key Skills

I've worked at all stages of software development, from requirements gathering to integration.
Experience in creating virtual machines and installing products to a variety of operating systems.
Practised at installing and configuring Warehouse Management Systems and Workforce Management solutions on client site.
Experience using SQL to gather reporting data from client databases, working with clients to show how SQL queries need changing to suit their business and using SQL management tools to host databases.
Installing and supporting Wincor Nixdorf’s NAMOS and JDA’s Enterprise Store Operations cloud solution.

Total Produce : Web Developer

November 2017 - Present

Total Produce is a farming multinational that is undergoing massive expansions. At Total Produce I create web applications using the OutSystems platform.

OutSystems is a low code platform that allows a developer to do much more work in the same time. Because of this I've taken on design responsibilities as well, having a hand in both the architecture of the system and the look and feel of all the applications.

Much of my work at Total produce has been to replace old systems, sometimes pen and paper, and replace them with web applications.

Some highlights include:

Creating and maintaining MarketHandheld, an application for salespeople to enter purchases and sales through tablets. This replaced both a pen & paper setup and competing products.
Extending the sales platform for keyboard use and integrating the system with the portugese government so it can be used there.
Developing the base style of applications, the template for applications and co-authoring the coding standards document with another developer.
Creating the dev management framework to track who is working on what, what changes are in which environment and to ease deployments between systems.

While working at Total Produce I have completed NVQ Level 4, and am currently working towards a Software Engineering degree.

Digital 3rd : Junior Consultant

September 2017 - October 2017

Digital 3rd is a tech consultancy run by the owners of Digital Native. In between clients I also worked towards various certifications.

While at Digital 3rd I worked on:

Gathering location data using the Bing Search API.
Gathering location data using web scraping techniques.
Gathering opinon data using the GDelt API.
Creating a website for the Personal Trainer Rob Doody.
Creating a website for Timberwolf Tree Services.

REPL Group : Implementation Consultant

September 2016 – September 2017

REPL group is a consultancy firm that work to implements some of JDA's products.

While at REPL group I also trained with 3AAA to complete an NVQ level 4. Unfortunately I was unable to complete training due to 3AAA.

As a consultant I worked on three projects representing REPL, with British Petroleum, NewPort and Agora.

This work included:

Setting up point-of-sale hardware.
Managing updates and changes to the software on the fly.
Installing, configuring, and ensuring point-of-sale systems work correctly.
Troubleshooting installations from the BIOS to the final product.
Managing time and limited resources in an extremely fast paced environment.
Designing and gathering requirements for testing and sales environments.
Providing effort and costing estimates to project management.
Installing and configuring these environments with JDA WMS (Previously known as Discrete) 9.1.4.1 and JDA WMS Dispatcher 2016.1.0.
Setting up oracle databases.
Installing the latest WMS release on to client testing servers.

Acorns Retail : Store Volunteer

March 2014 – October 2017

Acorns is a charity that provides hospice care for children. I started there as part of the Duke of Edinbrough, and found it rewarding enough that I stayed long after.

I worked at the Solihull branch of the retail stores, raising money and awareness for the hospices.

At Acorns my duties where:

Using the point-of-sale systems to serve customers.
Receiving donations from the public.
Steaming and tagging clothes ready for the shop floor.
General maintenance of the shop floor and the staff working areas.
Watch and electronics repair.

I dressed up as Santa for fundraising, 2016.

Dynistics : Support & Development

September 2015 – September 2016

Dynistics is a charting company that displays real-time business data through a webpage.

While working at Dynistics I gained my Level 3 certification with 3AAA.

At Dynistics my duties where:

Configuring and installing web server software to virtual machines, working with every Microsoft supported operating system.
Providing first line support to diagnose and resolve issues.
Acting as senior support, directing first line support in their approach to problems and offering solutions.
Creating sales demonstrations to generate revenue.
Creating specifications for new product features.
Working directly on the product to add new features, to find and remove incorrect code and to ensure code quality is upheld throughout development.
Worked on designing an automated testing system and the upgrade of legacy code-management systems.

One of my coworkers happened to be a very talented photogropher, who helpfully took this photo.

Microsoft C# Professional : Exam 70-483

Achieved November 2017
View this certificate online.

This certificate was awarded for:

Manage program flow
Create and use types
Debug applications and implement security
Implement data access

BCS Level 4 Diploma : Software Development Methodologies

Achieved November 2017
View this certificate.

This certificate was awarded for:

Life Cycle of Systems Development Concepts.
Software Development Methodologies.
Data Roles and Responsibilities.

Encounters

Ongoing project
View this site.

Encounters is a Dungeons & Dragons helper application. While playing with friends I found that getting the numbers in order was both the least fun part, and the most time consuming. This application streamlines it down to a dice roll.

This site has been created using Angular and Tailwind for the frontend, and uses Laravel, Graph QL and Node.js to provide it's backend.

One standout feature of the site is that it uses websockets to keep users fully informed on what is happening without a page refresh.

This project has taught me:

Advanced and scalable usage of Angular and Tailwind.
How to design a backend capable of handling large amounts of data.
Best practices for connecting clients to a secure server.
Usage of Docker and Jenkins to automate deployments.
How to design a backend capable of handling large amounts of data.

Please note there is currently no sign-up for this site, however I'm happy to provide a demo.

Bounceback

Ongoing project

Bounceback is a new take on competitive local co-op games. In this you launch projectiles at other players to knock them off the map.

Project is made in the unity engine a C# game engine. This project has improved my understanding of performant code as well as offering up interesting algorithmic problems.

Digital Native & Arden University : Bachelor of Science with Honours - First Class

Digital and Technology Solutions (Software Engineering)

November 2018 – March 2022

This degree was awarded for:

Completing a A.I. powered product suggestion system for the Telesales system at Total Produce.
Learning and applying theory on stakeholders, project management and the software lifecycle.

Digital Native : NVQ Level 4

September 2017 – September 2018

Edexcel Advanced Apprenticeship in IT, Software, Web and Telecoms including:

L4 Diploma in ICT Professional Competence.
L4 Extended Diploma in ICT Systems and Principles.

3aaa Technology, Birmingham

September 2015 – September 2017

NVQ Level 4

Company lost the contract before completion of course. Unfortunately I'd need to start over with Digital Native.

NVQ Level 3