In today’s article, we’re happy to present you two new members of skeeled’s team. Rui Silva and Rui Freitas, most commonly known as Freitas around the office, work on skeeled’s network infrastructure.
Both Rui and Freitas studied Software Engineering at Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP). As for professional experience, Rui Silva worked as a developer for 3 years at new technologies company, where he was involved in several projects. For Freitas, this is his first professional experience.
In his free time, Rui likes to watch movies and series, read about new technologies related to software and astronomy and he also plays football in an amateur championship. As for Freitas, to hangout with friends, watch TV and listen to music.
We had a small conversation with them, where they talked a little bit about their daily tasks and their experience at skeeled so far. Here’s what they had to say:
1. What is Your Background and How Did You Get Into Developing?
Rui: The computing field has always interested me, since I was very young. In 2011, I got into ISEP and I felt from my first day there that this was my field. I progressively gained more interest in the area and when I realised that our daily problems could be represented and solved through software, it really motivated and excited me.
Freitas: I always enjoyed working with computers and I always tried to understand how they work since I was a kid, but I really started getting into web engineering when I joined university. I did some small stuff before but nothing much more complex than the typical “hello world” program. Since then, either by myself, university or in skeeled I got to learn a lot, which led to me being able to work in web developing and also dev ops/system administration.
2. What would you say is the most challenging thing about the work you do at skeeled?
Rui: The will of wanting to revolutionise and defy the world of recruitment is very ingrained in our culture. The most important thing is not only the challenge of presenting the best solution to systematic and well identified problems, but also tackling problems that haven’t been very well explored for not being considered real or problems, or for being considered too complex.
The main challenge for me is to analyse the way we see our solution, thinking of the vision we have of her for the future, not only in our perspective, as engineers, but also thinking in the users perspective. We always try to find the best concepts so that there is a comprehension between who is finding the solution and who is using it.
Freitas: Working at skeeled, or other software-based company, comes with the ongoing challenge of keeping up with the technology. There is always new information coming up and no one wants to be left behind. At skeeled, we try to be as up-to-date as possible to deliver the best experience we can, but you always have to keep things balanced, otherwise we would be constantly changing our technological stack, which would not be good as well, especially for the clients.
3. Do you think that clients perceive the amount of background work that goes into building a software like skeeled?
Rui: No, but that’s how is supposed to be. I think that our work goes a lot by simplifying and providing our clients with the right tools so that they can focus on what really matters to them. We want to give them the freedom to use our software according to their work methods, while making it simple and intuitive to use.
Freitas: I think it’s fair to say that a lot goes behind the scene before our customers see a new feature or even a small improvement. From the moment we are assigned with a new ticket to the actual deploy a lot of work is done to make sure that we deliver the best solution possible. It has happened, and it will probably happen again, that a big development was made and nothing changed in the customers perspective. Personally, there is no greater feeling and reward than hearing feedback directly from customers who use skeeled everyday about something that I developed or helped to develop, but sometimes our work is done quietly, which can be bittersweet, but that’s part of the job.
4. What do you think is the must-have characteristic for any Developer?
Rui: I think that the main characteristic that any developer, from any area, should have is the ability to abstract himself from the obvious solution and try to think outside the box. It’s not that every solution needs to be revolutionary, which most of the times they are not, but just the act of thinking about other solutions, even for there already exists one, helps to understand the problem in a more clear way.
Freitas: No matter what your background, experience or your current workplace is, I think that any developer should have a critical perspective about everything and not accept something just because it’s the standard or it’s “how everyone else does it”. You need to question everything and always thrive to not just accept what is in front of you. I would also add a second one: don’t be that person that quits after the first problem and runs looking for someone’s help. Always try to understand the problem, do a bit of research and try different solutions. Even if you fail to get the problem solved, you will develop skills that are far more valuable than the answer, you might learn new stuff that isn’t directly related to the problem but will be valuable in the future
5. How Would You Describe Your Day at Work?
Rui: My day at work is very similar to every developer in the world: coffee, headphones and computer. As team leader, I always try to understand how is everything going, guarantee that the team is going in the same direction and try to check if there is any set-back that might influence our development cycle.
Freitas: Not everyday is the same. We might have team meetings to discuss how the next development cycle will be or to analyse the previous one. Generally speaking, for me, the day starts with a quick check on our infrastructure monitoring tools. After that, a cup of coffee and I start working on the ticket (feature, improvement, chore, etc) that I’m working at that moment. After lunch, we have our daily stand-up meeting where everyone on the team says what they did since the last one and what we will do until the next one. Another cup of coffee and I’m off to start developing again until the day is done. Also as part of my secondary role at skeeled (System Administrator), sometimes I coordinate with Rui (our Team Leader and main System Administrator) maintenance work or changes that are required in that area.
6. What Advice Do You Have for Someone First Getting Into This Field?
Freitas: It doesn’t matter if you have a degree or if you know how to program since you were a kid, don’t assume that what you know is enough or that you know it all. Have an open mindset, be ready to receive feedback and learn from it.
Rui: From my short career in this field, I would say that the most important thing is to stay curious. It’s an ever-evolving field and each day we have a new technology or a new way to see a problem.
Here are the links to the other articles of our "Meet the team" series:
- The Founders: Mike & Nicolas
- Head of Engineering: Artur
- Psychology Expert: António
- UI/UX Designer: Michael
- Head of Marketing: Brice
- Data Scientist: Joana
- Customer Success Specialist: Pénélope
Skeeled offers you the perfect opportunity to bring innovation and digitalisation to your hiring. Check our website or our LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook pages for further information.
Thanks for reading and see you next time!
Your team here at skeeled
