A Day in the Life of an Associate Software Engineer

Cecelia D., Associate Software Engineer in the emerging technology division at UKG, kicked off her career with the company as an intern while obtaining her master’s in computer science in 2023. That experience ultimately led to a full-time offer, and she hasn’t looked back since. Instead, she has always found a way forward, even coming from an unconventional background, and is currently working on several high-impact projects central to UKG’s artificial intelligence strategy.

Cecelia earned her undergraduate degree from Boston University in Art History, Architecture, and Fine Arts. It wasn’t until she attended a show at the ICA Boston—“Art in the Age of the Internet”—that she became interested in technology’s role in contemporary art.

“This exhibition piqued my curiosity about the individuals who were engineering the technological infrastructure of internet-based art,” she tells Fairygodboss. “I became interested in bridging the gap between the art world and software development. I was inspired by the ability of the internet to democratize information and foster communication, and I felt that by developing technical skills on top of my creative background, the possibilities were endless.”

So Cecelia began to teach herself web development and explored motion graphics before ultimately deciding to go back to school to study computer science.

“Since then, working in software engineering has been a great way to engage with STEM and creativity, so it feels like a great fit,” she adds.

Here, we caught up with her to see what a day in her life has looked like for her in the working world. 

What’s your day-to-day like?

Currently, my team is working on an AI-powered search experience within the UKG suite. Our objective is to streamline the user experience by simplifying the interaction with our tools and data. We are creating an intuitive, AI-driven interface that empowers users to easily engage with the system.

While my formal role is that of a full-stack engineer, my professional interest and the majority of my daily tasks are oriented towards front-end development. My typical day begins with a team stand-up meeting to align on progress, discuss any challenges, and coordinate our efforts. My time throughout the rest of the day is primarily dedicated to software development.

I typically code new features orenhance existing code. I often attend meetings in the morning, either to seek guidance from more senior engineering colleagues or to provide support in areas where I have developed a specific focus, such as the integration and testing of Bryte-powered search in our mobile app.

UKG encourages the use of AI tools to streamline our development. I use one called Qodo the most as we have it integrated into our GitHub pipelines. This is incredibly useful to catch small errors or opportunities to clean up any code that is getting pushed. AI offers the ability to speed up work significantly, but it needs to be paired with a strong baseline knowledge of the languages you are working with so that you can verify its comments and output. I find the Copilot and Qodo plugins particularly useful for quick queries about the functionality of repos that I am unfamiliar with.

As a hybrid employee, I am in the office three days a week. These days, I take a lunch break with a few of my coworkers, where we shoot pool or go on a walk. After my break, meetings typically taper off, and I have a chunk of time for focused, uninterrupted coding—allowing me to concentrate on development tasks and progress towards the approval of my pull requests.

What traits/skills do you have that help you succeed as a software engineer?

I am a very versatile person, and my most valuable assets are curiosity and a love of learning. I think, especially in a field like computer science, where there are so many different niches, the more you know, the easier it is to open doors for yourself.

Do you have any recent projects or accomplishments that you are particularly proud of?

My team for 48 Hours, our internal UKG hackathon, just won second place overall and first place in the MongoDB category. We created a chatbot that is designed to help developers find the information they need faster—saving time and improving issue resolution.

It was exciting to see it recognized by our peers, and even more rewarding to know it has the potential to support teams across the company. It’s always fun when we get to build something that can make our day-to-day work a little smoother and help new teammates onboard more easily..

Could you share the most rewarding and challenging aspects of being in software engineering?

The thing that I love about software engineering is that it is my job to learn something new every day. I think very few jobs are so intellectually stimulating. With new advancements being made in AI, I know that staying curious and adaptable will keep my knowledge fresh. Through our company access, I regularly use platforms like LinkedIn Learning and Pluralsight to continue growing.

However, sometimes work is challenging. UKG has a long history, so some of our legacy codebases are more monolithic in structure.  With so many people collaborating across teams, we sometimes need to think creatively to find solutions that work for everyone. But solving a hard problem and seeing your solution work in real-time is satisfying and makes all the effort worth it.

What is your best advice for overcoming the challenges in your field?

At least in my current position, I find that my coworkers are very knowledgeable and happy to help. While it is important to figure things out on your own to improve, asking questions is essential. I think it is great to connect with your coworkers and mentors so that you feel comfortable asking for help or more information.

We also have robust documentation on Confluence, so it is vital to bookmark and reference these documents. I learned quickly how important documentation is. Whenever I have a meeting, I write down all the key points, files, and commands so I can update company documentation and have my own references to come back to later.

What’s it like being a woman in software engineering?

We need to stick together! I have been lucky that, at UKG, I have several women working with me or managing me who are incredibly smart and inspiring. We also have an employee resource group (ERG) called FIRE UP that is focused on female inclusion, resilience, and excellence. They host events and have panels with interesting women throughout the company. Our CEO, Jen Morgan, is also really accomplished, and we have many women in leadership roles at the executive level.

Being a woman in software engineering is challenging at times. Throughout my education, I was often underestimated and had to prove myself. All but one of the professors in my master's program were men, and it is so important to have more women in computer science academia and STEM fields, particularly engineering-based ones that still seem so male-dominated.

That being said, it means that the women I cross paths with in career-oriented settings have a similar dedication to me and have experienced a similar journey in many ways. There is a lot of kinship there and mutual support. I always try to interact with women who ask for advice on LinkedIn or in person, and I have found that those more senior than I have a similar attitude.

When growing your career in software engineering, was there anything that surprised you?

I am still at the very start of my career journey, and I am excited to see where it takes me. While I love being a software engineer so far, I realized how much I value interfacing with people and being involved in the product side of things. I think that, especially as a software engineer, communication skills are priceless.

I am also shocked at how quickly AI has proliferated and how impactful it is on your career to know how to develop and utilize it effectively.

How do you wind down after work?

After my day at work, I drive home and go to hot yoga or the gym. Sometimes I log on in the evening if we have urgent work that needs to be done or a release, but I always feel that I have a good amount of time in the evening to decompress.

I am able to perform better at work when I have things to look forward to at the end of the day or week. I have some personal projects that I work on at home to improve my UI/UX skills and experiment. I also love to do things outside of computer science. Exercise is a must to burn off extra energy and take care of myself. One of the most important things in my life is having friends who like to have fun, but who are also career-driven like I am. It’s so awesome to have a high-achieving group of friends to encourage you, and vice versa.