We are continuing our A Day in the Life of … series with five exceptional DevelopmentAid employees – Radu Severin, Georgeta Ciorba, Victor Istrati and Tudor Coban. They are Software Developers within our IT Development department. Their main occupation is to develop our website www.developmentaid.org.
What made you choose this career?
Radu Severin: Ever since school, I was passionate about electronics, I liked to play and experiment with different electronic components. I had my first computer in 2000 and I was extremely excited about this whole magic box and especially about all the possibilities it offers. Gradually, with the development of technologies, my interest in this field has increased. Consequently, I graduated UTM. I initially worked as a network administrator for 7 years after which I decided to make a change.
Georgeta Ciorba: Actually this career chose me. Every step I took so far has directed me to this career. Computers have fascinated me since childhood, that’s why I didn’t have to think twice when I had to choose my specialty.
Victor Istrati: I wanted to have a job with a decent salary. My wish plus my passion for IT led me here.
Tudor Coban: The joy of making a piece of code that works and offers people help.
What do you think makes you good at what you do?
Radu Severin: This is something the Team Leader would be able to answer. Personally, I try to put all my knowledge and effort into solving the proposed daily tasks. The point is that when a problem arises I do not relent until I solve it.
Georgeta Ciorba: Permanent desire to learn something new, boldness, courage maybe.
Victor Istrati: Curiosity and perseverance in fulfilling the tasks.
Tudor Coban: It’s said that key qualities of a developer should be attitude and persistence.
What does a typical day look like?
Radu Severin: I wake up, have a cup of coffee and read some news. I take my little girl to the kindergarten. I’m read my emails, I’m start to do the tasks on the list, I attend the meeting. After having lunch, I continue with the tasks. Then I take a short break and play a tennis game. Then, I resume the tasks. When the working day is done, I go home, have dinner and spend time with my family. Before going to sleep, I surf the web a bit. There is no perfect agenda for a perfect day. We are all different and we organize our time differently.
Georgeta Ciorba: I have university courses in the morning, so I start working after lunch. I check my email, open the tasks that have been assigned to me, then I make a small work plan for that day and then the beautiful process of creation begins.
Victor Istrati: My day starts with checking the mail box, after that I make code review or I code new features.
Tudor Coban: I check my email and notes, make a plan for today, get a coffee and start to work, periodically i’m participating in meetings and discussions, at the end of the day i’m writing some notes for tomorrow.
What would you say is most appealing about your role?
Radu Severin: To see the results of my work. When you see that everything works correctly, you get professional satisfaction.
Georgeta Ciorba: The fact that it’s a creative job. I love the feeling when I get a new task and try to find a solution to implement it, but very often everything doesn’t work as I planned, so then I follow the first rule of programming: “If it works, don’t touch it”.
Victor Istrati: The result.
Tudor Coban: I’m working at a very interesting project with the best people.
What is the most challenging aspect of your role?
Radu Severin: To find the best possible solution for the problem.
Georgeta Ciorba: There is a bit of challenge in every new task I receive.
Victor Istrati: Bugs.
Tudor Coban: The most challenging aspect of my role is the opportunity to work and bring something very great to life.
What’s the highlight of your career with DevelopmentAid so far?
Radu Severin: The Application – There are many technologies used in the application. Study them and treat them well.
Georgeta Ciorba: Not much time has passed since I started working at DevelopmentAid, but I’m glad to be a part of this wonderful team, and it’s a great opportunity to work here, that’s the highlight of my career so far.
Victor Istrati: My colleagues, the salary and flexible working hours.
Tudor Coban: At DevelopmentAid I had the opportunity to get involved in every step of a software life cycle and in many aspects of it which made me see the entire image and the small but very important parts of it.
What advice would you give someone wanting to become a Software Developer?
Radu Severin: IT should be for those who are ready for a constantly changing job, who want to work with passion and dedication even in their free time, but especially for those who are interested in constantly studying new technologies, because this field is constantly developing. Always think of the future and always be informed about what’s new in the field.
Georgeta Ciorba: First you have to love programming, because that requires dedication. Then you need to always be in step with development and have a permanent desire and curiosity to learn something new.
Victor Istrati: Believing yourself and apply in practice your knowledge.
Tudor Coban: It’s never too late to love and do programming and there is no a general path and recipe to achieve it, find what you like in programming and do it.
What is it like being a pioneer for gender equality in the IT sector in our country?
Georgeta Ciorba: When you see that very few women work in a department, it creates the stereotype that it’s a domain only for men, but it’s definitely not like that. I don’t feel a big difference being the only woman in the team, because we all have the same interest and passion for programming, and we have a lot to learn from each other.
