Samantha Freeman - Professional Development
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1. What is your greatest strength and how do you know?

   *I would say one of my greatest strengths is accountability. I frequently take responsibility for things affecting both my work and personal life. Coworkers and friends have frequently mentioned (and so did my Pairin results) that I am reliable. They know that I will be there if they need someone or I will take on responsibilities in new project to ensure that it is completed.*

2. How do you work best?

   *I am comfortable in any scenario, I can either work in a team or indepedently. In addition, since I feel comfortable with groups of people; I'm able to give guidance or be a supportive team player. I react based on what is best for the group. I'm comfortable adjusting to fit to the work that needs to be completed. Sometimes it may take an additional nudge to get myself started, however once I start getting to work I become determined to see it through.*

3. What is your greatest area of improvement?

   *My greatest weakness is my self-regard. Even Pairin noticed and gave me a bit of a pep talk: "You are a treasure!". I tend to be very self critical. I do think self-awareness is incredibly important. However, I tend to not recognize my own value, which has ended up hurting myself. I was delayed in applying for Turing, because of my own self doubt. I kept questioning if I was "intelligent" enough to take on coding. I need to recognize my strengths more and not let my critical analysis slow me down.*

4. How do you hope to maximize your strengths for your new career in software development?

   *I think I have a lot of existing strengths from my prior careers, which should help with my next career. I can utulize the experiences that I have learned previously and apply them to both my time in Turing and next steps in my career. That being said, I also believe that there is always room for development. Thus it will be extremely crucial that I work on expanding my strengths more while I'm in school and also try to tap into some of those strengths I hoped to have. It would also be valuable to take note of some of my areas of weakness. As mentioned above, I don't want to let those qualities weigh me down.*

5. How might knowing about your strengths and working preferences benefit you as a software developer?

   *Along the lines of the above question, it does give me the opportunity to further these strengths because I'm more cognizant. It will also help with finding a specific career in the field that works best for me. For example, I may want to take on certain roles/responsibilities or work for a specific type of company. If I feel like I'm utulizing my strengths in my career, then I will be more likely to feel gratified by the work I'm doing.*