Career Focus - Interview With a Front-End Developer

Can you tell me about your education? What were your favorite subjects?

I graduated a French high school with an information technology profile. I was always good at math and sciences based on calculation.

Hobbies growing up and now?

When I was a kid, used to build and collect things. In my twenties I started practicing a lot more sports and reading books about self-development and spirituality. Leathercrafting is another hobby of mine, as mentioned I love crafting and creating.

Once you finished your education you had to start looking for a job/profession. Did you have an easy time or was it difficult?

I was kind of lucky to start digging into web development in my late high school years. After doing a Java Core course I managed to find a job relatively fast in the IT industry, where I am still.

How did you end up in your current field?

A school mate of mine shared a HTML tutorial written on my native language. I was fascinated by how easy you can do a simple web page, so I decided to explore this topic.

What does your day-to-day work look like? Are there any challenges you face?

I am currently working on an innovative project in the blockchain industry, so a lot of technical challenges occur present themselves daily. The fact that I lead a development team, adds another layer of complexity. Finding the proper balance between writing the code, solving the technical issues, and managing people is one the biggest challenges for me.

What do you find fulfilling in your line of work?

The teamwork and finding solutions to interesting problems. Teaching, mentoring, brainstorming, and working with people in general.  Writing beautiful and efficient code is the other thing that brings pleasure into my day-to-day work.

What is the major challenge dealing with clients? How do you convince them that the approach taken is the appropriate one?

Some of our clients and not technically savvy. The key element is to build trust by showing them our technical competence, soft skills, and proper work ethics.

Have you developed your own management style? Do you prefer to work in a specific way?

I am still developing it, and constantly realizing how challenging is to have one. The key is finding the proper balance between expecting and getting high-quality results and maintaining a good relationship with team members. In a nutshell I would say - people first, processes later.

Does technology have a significant impact on your work?

Absolutely yes! Technology is the bread and butter of my work given my involvement in the Blockchain and IT areas.

What would you say are your top three apps?

Absolutely yes! Technology is the bread and butter of my work given my involvement in the Blockchain and IT areas.

How do you see technology moving in the next 10/15 years?

It is going in the direction of automatization and AI. In web development I believe decentralization and Web 3.0 are the next big topics that will emerge and become dominant.

How do you see yourself in 10 years?

I see myself more oriented into the educational area, hopefully in a broader aspect than that just development and technology.

What is your favorite book and why?

James Clavell's "Shogun" is my favorite book. It contains so many layers - geography, history, Japanese language and culture, a lot of wisdom and moments filled with a very subtle humor. I would totally recommend it!

If you could go back when you were 18 what advice would you give to your younger self?

To not take things personally, to not overthink and overreact, and to act with courage and live in the present moment.