What's your job about?

I joined Stratpoint in October 2019 as a Junior Software Engineer. I was a fresh graduate when I applied for that position.

For the first three months, I was assigned to perform small tasks while under the supervision of my mentor. Despite having a few months of working with the company, I still had the opportunity of being assigned full-time on a project. My main task was to create solutions based on the requirements given to me. These helped me improve my understanding of the processes and to look at different perspectives based on the requirements. I also got a chance to directly communicate with the clients that developed my confidence speaking in front of them.

After six months with the company, I was assigned as the team lead on a new project. As a team lead, it gave me many opportunities to show my skills.

Aside from the technical skills and soft skills, I was able to build up my leadership skills. And that includes managing and handling a team and being responsible for their output.

In that same year, I was awarded the rookie of the midyear and level up awardee which means that I can go above and beyond what is expected.

What's your background?

I am the youngest of 3 siblings. Being the youngest, I usually got the hand-me-down toys that my older siblings don’t use anymore. It then led me to disassemble the toys and be curious about how they work. Apart from playing with my toys, I also grew up playing computer games and spending a lot of time in front of the computer. But even though I like playing, I still had an interest in Math and Science that helped me decide to pursue Computer engineering as my degree.

During college, I got really interested in joining Competitions like programming contests and Quiz Bees that I joined just for fun. I was surprised that I got 1st place in both and was chosen to represent the School for the NCR Quiz bee.

Then later we won that again and got to represent the Region for the National Quiz Bee. One thing I Realized from those events is that you can't really prepare for those types of things, but Experience and Constant practice can prepare you for anything.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Yes. Because for me, it is not the degree that is important but having the right mindset to do things. Probably, one of the qualities of being a software engineer is being resourceful and seeing things from another perspective. With this, it helps to create innovative solutions that have varying advantages. Such as a solution that is easy to implement versus a solution that is most cost-efficient in the long run

What's the coolest thing about your job?

For me, it's the sense of fulfilment of solving problems that I haven't experienced before. Being able to do something that you haven't done before helps you grow. Such as doing things that made me feel that it is difficult to accomplish. But at the end of the day, progress is still progress. We all learn from experience. Another cool thing is that once you know how to do one thing, you can help and guide others that are in the same situation as you were before.

What are the limitations of your job?

You will get to face problems or challenges daily and you will get to fail. I mentioned failing because people don't become experts overnight and it's the truth.

To know something is the best solution means you already tried ten solutions yet, it still failed. Just like any other profession, deadlines are also crucial. Furthermore, the problems you encounter might sound simple, but once you get to dive deeper, it's made up of multiple small problems.

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

1. Just keep moving forward. With each challenging thing that you need to do, it still gives you the experience to do harder things in the future. Remember that it's always okay to fail because it is still a powerful experience.
    
2. Practice empathy. Communicating with people is one thing, but learning how they feel while communicating adds another dimension to understanding them.
    
3. Change what you can, accept what you can't. Every person has strengths and weaknesses and learning that you also have weaknesses does not make you a lesser person.