What's your job about?

My responsibilities as a Graduate Engineer revolve around delivering frontend solutions for my deployed team, participating in engineering initiatives, and helping manage an internship program for Retail Tech along with my fellow graduate engineers. Some of the specific tasks with my team are coding on web applications and microservices, having daily stand-up meetings to discuss our progress and goals, and dedicating a small portion of my day to upscale my skills.

What's your background?

I spent my high school and senior high in Baguio City then moved to Manila to study at De La Salle University and took up BS Computer Science with Specialization in Software Technology. During my college days, I joined my college’s student government as well as took up internships that involved frontend and quality assurance roles. These experiences took my soft skills to another level as I was able to apply them wherever I went. Before I graduated, I applied to ING as an intern but unfortunately, I wasn’t accepted. After learning about the company and hearing about its positive feedback and work culture, I was determined to work there. It wasn’t too soon when I saw another opportunity to apply as a Graduate Engineer at ING and I was finally accepted. Now I’ve been part of the company for over a year.  

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Yes, I think someone with a different background could do my job. What I think it takes is to be genuinely curious about things and have the passion to constantly learn. There are many free and quality resources on the Internet about learning how to be a developer and how to showcase your problem-solving skills. The graduate engineers are a testament to this. We consist of fresh graduates coming from different schools and courses that are not exactly related to computer science. Regardless of this, we all get the same opportunity to receive a fulfilling engineering experience.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

What I think the coolest thing about my job is that I feel like I’m sitting in the driver’s seat in the responsibilities that I take on. I feel that the people I’m surrounded by really listen to my suggestions and feedback regardless of my experience to come up with my own technical solutions. Another cool thing is being able to build engineering communities. Apart my day-to-day job, I engage in front-end discussions and create micro-learnings about engineering topics. These initiatives help me network within the company, strengthen the community, and upscale my skills to share with others.

What are the limitations of your job?

Being active in your delivery team and participating in different initiatives may be quite overwhelming once responsibilities start to pile up. Time management is crucial and should be used to plan out tasks and time blocks to get things done. Additionally, sometimes the applications we work on can go down and cause some errors for clients and stakeholders. It is also our responsibility as engineers to come up with swift solutions to get them up and running again and prevent it from happening again.

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

• There is no such thing as a stupid question – Sometimes we get anxious asking questions about simple things. This is an indicator that you’re genuinely interested and want to get things done the right way.
• Never compare yourself to anyone except for yourself – It’s easy to compare the achievements of other people, especially our peers. Just focus on yourself and forge your path!
• Learn how to say “No” – Creating boundaries is a sign of self-respect and shouldn’t be looked down upon. Striking a balance is crucial for anyone’s career.