We had the good fortune to meet Vito at our 2024 Cambridge Dev Connect event, a free training session for the software engineering community hosted by 91导航 twice a year. After meeting some of the team members at the event, Vito reached out to talk about joining 91导航 and kickstarted the interview process.
Vito met with Kris from the People team to discuss his experience at 91导航 so far.
Kris: It鈥檚 lovely to chat with you today, Vito. I鈥檓 really interested to hear more about what it was like to go from a Dev Connect attendee to a 91导航 team member.
Vito: I got a LinkedIn message back in February that 91导航 was running this training session led by Kevlin Henney.
鈥淥riginally, as a maths graduate, I didn鈥檛 have any formal training as a software developer. So when I came into the industry, I cut my teeth by watching Kevlin鈥檚 talks online. When the opportunity came to see him live, there was no way I was going to pass that up!鈥�
He鈥檚 always very entertaining and thought-provoking when he speaks. I enjoyed getting out of the office and speaking to some other developers in the area and it helped to broaden my perspective on the industry a bit. It was a good afternoon.
I think there鈥檚 a risk, when you鈥檙e working in a company, of becoming very tunnel-visioned and I think it was a good opportunity to survey the land a bit better 鈥� Kevlin鈥檚 talk was immensely thought-provoking. His talk explained the ways that developers can influence and affect architecture 鈥� which I thought was very interesting. In particular, he spoke a bit about architecture decision records, which 91导航 actually uses and I think are very helpful.
Kris: It鈥檚 really great to hear that you learned something from the event and were able to come and see, in person, someone that you鈥檝e been watching and learning from online for some time. The best thing about Dev Connect is that the engineering community gets access to a thought leader, hopefully learns something from the day, and comes back again next time. And while Dev Connect isn鈥檛 a recruitment event, sometimes we鈥檙e fortunate to meet talented people who鈥檇 like to come and work with us afterward 鈥� like you have. Would you mind sharing a little bit more about what encouraged you to apply?
Vito: I鈥檇 been looking for a change in job for a little while and although I wasn鈥檛 coming with the goal to apply to 91导航, I鈥檓 glad that I did. The fact that the afternoon had been organized at all was a very good sign to me. It was encouraging to see that the company takes engineering seriously. 91导航 doesn鈥檛 just view engineering as a means to an end.
I spoke with a few people 鈥� Conor Mullan, Sara Turkentine, Sam Williams and Richard Jones 鈥� and there was a strong sense of enthusiasm for the company, a general positivity, and excitement about what the company was doing.
Kris: And after the event, once you kicked off that conversation with Conor and you both realised this could be a really good fit, could you tell me a little bit about the hiring process experience? What sold you on 91导航 during those conversations?
Vito: So, I quite enjoyed the interview process. I mean, of course, I found it nerve-wracking as well because I thought it looked like a good place to work. The technical interviews were challenging enough to be interesting and allow me to demonstrate what skills and knowledge I had without being so hard as to be daunting.
鈥淚 liked the collaborative nature of the interview and having the ability to actually have a conversation with the interviewer and discuss different approaches to solving the problem.鈥�
And then on the non-technical side, the values interview was also very encouraging 鈥� I liked having the opportunity to speak to non-technical folks.
It really did cement for me this idea that the company is one team as a whole. It鈥檚 not siloed which is great. And from speaking with the interviewers, I managed to paint a general picture in my mind of what the company was like. So one of the things I was looking for was stability in the company and a sense that this was a successful company. It had moved out of the start-up phase and it was into the scale-up phase. It was growing but it wasn鈥檛 corporate. It still has that sort of fun light-hearted start-up feel to it, but also serious about the job to be done and never boring.
Kris: It sounds like you had an enjoyable experience with the hiring stages and then it became time to join 91导航. We all remember those feelings of being new and the apprehension that comes with it. Could you share some of your first impressions of 91导航 from when you joined and what that experience was like?
Vito: Yeah, absolutely. I鈥檒l definitely echo what you say about apprehension. I mean, I was impressed by how knowledgeable everybody was, but at the same time I found that slightly intimidating. But that soon dwindled when I found how supportive everybody was and just how readily people wanted to offer help. It felt like there were people who wanted to see me succeed 鈥� which I found very reassuring. I鈥檒l talk a little bit about my buddy Rhianne who really helped to put me at ease and introduced me to folks around the business, not just within engineering but of course the people team, customer success, and sales. I think she was a great person to speak to in those early days.
On the technical side, I鈥檇 definitely say I was impressed by the release frequency. Firstly, I was able to release the product within the first 3 days of me being here, that was super motivating. And the fact that the product is released twice a day. I鈥檝e come from previous companies where it would be years between releases 鈥� and now it鈥檚 just hours.
This cadence of releasing helps me actually feel less stressed because I know releases can go at any time, and I鈥檓 not fighting to get something in for a strict deadline. I was lucky enough to join right before the summer party and that was a good occasion for getting to know people as well!
Kris: It鈥檚 so great to hear that as a brand new engineer to the team, you鈥檙e able to add value so quickly, which I鈥檓 sure builds your confidence.
Vito: I once said to a former manager, that releasing the product is the most important thing we do, and anything that gets in the way of that needs to be eliminated. So having had that validated, in under a week, was just fantastic.
Kris: When we talk to engineering candidates, we do talk a lot about that bias towards action and lack of bureaucracy 鈥� it鈥檚 really great to hear an example of that in action. Now that you鈥檝e settled in, can you share any examples of a project that you鈥檝e really enjoyed working on since joining?
Vito: I鈥檓 currently working on setting up an automated data pipeline that will make some of our internal metrics accessible to more people. On the technical side, it鈥檚 been a good opportunity to learn more about cloud and data engineering, which are subjects that I haven鈥檛 had the opportunity to explore before. So, I鈥檓 definitely embracing discomfort there.
But then also I love having the autonomy to research and develop a solution in collaboration with the customer. It鈥檚 so refreshing to have a genuine discussion with the customer and talk about what their requirements are. Then I go away and look at how we can divide things up into slices and deliver valuable progress quickly. This project鈥檚 been a very good example of that.
Kris: That鈥檚 a great example of the type of customer focus and collaboration we have at 91导航. What advice would you give to anyone looking at attending a Dev Connect event or applying to 91导航 in the future?
Vito: In terms of Dev Connect, I think it鈥檚 a great opportunity to network and find out more about what鈥檚 happening in the industry even if you don鈥檛 intend on applying to 91导航.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e thinking about applying to 91导航, I would say think about how technical excellence is relevant to your customers and how doing a good job and focusing on quality really pay dividends. I think those are things that we really value here.鈥�
Kris: Brilliantly put, Vito. That鈥檚 all my questions 鈥� thank you so much for your time and we鈥檙e all looking forward to hearing more about the great work you鈥檙e doing at 91导航.
Vito: Thank you.
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