How would you explain your job?
When you have a puzzle, you can see on the box what it would look like when it’s finished. My job is to assemble all the different pieces of the puzzle that will serve as the core base, so basically the edges. The end user doesn’t necessarily see my work, but it is very important that I put all different parts in the right spots from the start, to avoid any issues in a later stage of the puzzle. Then, when the edges are all in place, the front-end Developers come in, and they take care of the other aspects of the puzzle.
What does a regular working day look like for you?
My day always starts with a 9 AM stand-up meeting in which we discuss with the team what we did previous days, and what we have planned for the coming days. The rest of the day, I review codes from my Developer-colleagues, I develop new features based on the tickets I am assigned to, I test features and run them in our testing environment, and I keep our documentation up to date. On my project, I work in a team with 3 front-end Developers, 2 other back-end Developers, 2 Architects, 2 Business Analysts, 1 Project Manager and 1 Scrum Manager.
What are the most important qualities for a Developer?
I think about problem solving skills, because solving problems is what you need to do every day in this job. I also think about the ability to adapt or shift gears, based on the client’s request. You need to pay attention to details, and be patient, because coding can come with some frustration as well. You need to be resilient and able to prioritize, because you have a deadline for every feature.
What does the Fedasil project entail?
Fedasil is a project where we maintain and develop features for an application called Match-it that is used for the place management but also follow-up of the social dossier of asylum seekers – we call them beneficiaries. Fedasil’s job is to find the right house for every person, assign the right assistant to them, and find out what their needs are. Within the application, you have different tabs that represent different aspects of the beneficiary’s social dossier, like housing, children, school subscription, employment, etc. What I like about the Fedasil project is the real impact from a human perspective.
Fun fact
If Francisco could switch jobs for one day with someone else at Sopra Steria, he would like to switch with a Business Analyst, to see the complete other side of what he does, and to be more in touch with the customer.
What can you say about Sopra Steria’s culture?
Sopra Steria’s culture is very free and open. It is informal, and you can easily talk with everyone and approach your superiors, and I believe this is not the case in every company. I have a lot of autonomy in my job, and there is a lot of room to grow professionally, and as a person. There is room to express yourself and to share the ideas you have for future applications. Sopra Steria cares about its employees, and if you have something you want to discuss or that concern you, management listens to you, and tries to find a solution.
I believe people at Sopra Steria don’t want to stay in the same position, but they look forward to learning new things and technologies, so I would describe a ‘Sopra Sterian’ as someone who is eager to learn. Sopra Steria also makes this possible because they try to push people to train themselves.
Fun fact
If Sopra Steria was an animal, Francisco thinks it would be a cat. “At Sopra Steria, there is a friendly environment, and a cat is also a friendly animal – at least my cat haha. Sometimes, a cat can be very playful which very much aligns with Sopra Steria’s “Work hard play hard” mindset, so I see a link there”.