richard
tyler

I was most recently employed as a Software Developer at Gallup, Inc where I was charged with maintaining, testing, and implementing new features on client-facing React apps and their service layers built with . Gallup is an analytics and advisory company that conducts polling around the world and provides management consulting to organizations based on their proprietary CliftonStrengths assessment and Q12 employee engagement survey.

I was part of the Gallup Analytics and Reporting (GAR) team. We maintained a collection of apps that allow clients to administer employee engagement surveys, analyze those surveys’ results, and build actionable plans to increase employee engagement using Gallup’s learning resources. Naturally, a good chunk of my work on this team involved implementing and updating data visualization libraries. I was often revising or simply using a mono-repo of custom React and Ember data visualization components built leveraging Highcharts for graphs and Storybook for live documentation.

When I first started at Gallup, GAR was just starting to migrate all of their frontends to React from Ember. Those Ember apps were built before Javascript was commonly type-checked and had virtually no test coverage. So, to increase the robustness and resilience, I brought test coverage up to 90% for both unit tests using Jest and end-to-end tests using Cypress and implemented Typescript to support type-checking. Similarly, I migrated micro-frontends from Ember to React that integrate with adjacent Gallup products to show a user a quick summary of their data from our product.

Gallup also gave me my first taste of backend development. The backend was built in Java, which I had to learn on the fly. Luckily, I had used Object-Oriented Programming while learning Vanilla Javascript at Turing, so I had a decent foundation to learn Java fundamentals on. My work on the backend was light, but I learned so much about micro-services, layered architecture, and separating logic. I wouldn’t call myself a Java expert, but after my time at Gallup, I feel confident in my fullstack capabilities.

I served 5 years in the Marine Corps as a 2671, Middle East Cryptologic Linguist. I shipped off to MCRD Parris Island a week after my 19th birthday, and I was meritoriously promoted to PFC before graduation for displaying excellence in leadership, expertise, and physical fitness as a squad leader. I attended the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA where I studied Modern Standard Arabic. In a little more than a year, I went from learning the alphabet to watching movies and discussing social issues in Arabic. I graduated DLI with a 2/2+/1+ DLPT score (listening/reading/speaking). I attended a few more Signals Intelligence training courses at San Angelo AFB on my way to Camp Lejeune, NC. After deploying from North Carolina to Spain and Senegal, I attended an advanced Arabic course at PLTCE in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany where I raised my language scores to 3/2+ (listening/reading).

I deployed on the Special Purpose MAGTF-Crisis Response-Africa with 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines as part of the 2nd Radio Battalion detachment. I served as the linguist on a SigInt Support Team monitoring, transcribing, and translating intercepted target communications; performing analysis and exploitation of designated foreign communications; and installing, operating, and performing preventive maintenance of intercept equipment.

In the final year of my service, I became a Combat Marksmanship Coach. As a coach, I instructed Marines in marksmanship fundamentals, analyzed shooters’ difficulties during dry and live firing exercises, and assisted range staff in range operations.

Upon my end of active service, I received an honorable discharge at the rank of Sergeant (E-5).