We gathered some of our team together to discuss what it’s like to be a developer here at Bit Zesty:
 Louis Kirkham |  Daniela Sinclair |  Lubos Hricak |  Vasco Figueiredo |
 Vasili Kachalko |  Mauricio Cinelli |  Nick Loshkarev |  Mario Correa |
Tony McPartlan (Marketing Manager at Bit Zesty): So let’s start by talking about what a typical day looks like?
Louis – I take my morning coffee ☕️ to my dedicated workspace and put on some music. I’ll open up Slack and scan through project and support notifications.
I will often have a new task assigned by the project managers, or an unfinished task from the previous day and can begin on this straight away. There is no typical day of work, it will vary. It could be investigating and fixing bugs, implementing new features, giving estimates for upcoming work, deployments, checking security vulnerabilities, user testing, or documentation.
Daniela – At 3pm UK time, we have our daily stand-up call where we update the rest of the team on our progress or blockers with tasks. After each standup, we typically have a short guided meditation session and on some days we may stay on and have a casual chat. After our call, I’ll get to work for a couple more hours, before finishing for the day.
Louis – The sharing of knowledge at the stand-ups is important, especially if we need to continue on someone else’s work or review code.
Mauricio – Some days there will be a new project, so we need to estimate it. In this case, we go through the user stories one by one, discuss what we likely need to do, and come up with an estimate for the clients.
Tony: What are the positives of being a developer here?
Daniela – I appreciate the variety of tasks I get to work on as a Developer at Bit Zesty. Some days I’m fixing bugs or making UI tweaks, other days I’m building new features.
Vasco – I like having the opportunity to work on different projects with different technologies. It’s also a really diverse team and I like working with people from different countries and backgrounds.
Vasili – Yeah, the team is full of nice people. I also really appreciate the flexibility with remote working. 🏡
Mario – Our team is very supportive. The intention is to help everyone with the tasks or challenges they’ve got every day
Lubos – I have to say that it’s great that Bit Zesty supports learning.
Louis – Definitely, the job is multifaceted and I always feel like I am learning.
Tony: That’s great to hear. What about the challenges?
Nick – In the first months, I had to study a number of new projects and transfer them to a new hosting. It was challenging but also interesting. The team is very friendly and helped me to adapt to the company. I am immensely grateful to them for this.
Vasili – Working on multiple projects can get tough sometimes when many things are happening at the same time.
Louis – Yeah that can be daunting, especially when faced with a new problem for which you don’t have an instant answer but it needs to be solved. Working in an agency means that there are time pressures ⏱ – sometimes this is fixing an urgent bug in a production environment or when an estimated task isn’t going according to plan.
Daniela – For me I would say all the usual challenges that come with being a Developer, trying to stay up-to-date with industry trends, constantly absorbing new information and trying to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Mario – We are working with the latest technologies, so challenges come from being up-to-date with the latest security upgrades and ensuring we get the most out of the technology.
Tony: How would you describe the culture here at Bit Zesty?
Lubos – It’s a great place to work. It has a friendly atmosphere where I felt welcomed from day one. I constantly feel supported to grow and learn. My colleagues are super-competent and I am learning tons from them.
Vasco – Everyone is very friendly towards one another, we express our gratitude often and enjoy our virtual team socials 🙂. People are free to open up and talk as much or as little as they want.
Daniela – I think the company culture really prioritises wellbeing. We all have unanticipated circumstances that might affect us, our state of mind, or our work hours. My colleagues at Bit Zesty have never been anything but understanding and supportive if ever that’s been the case.
Nick – Bit Zesty is not a company, it’s a family.
Tony: That’s lovely 😊 What advice would you give developers considering joining the Bit Zesty team?
Mauricio – It’s important to be flexible and willing to be on multiple projects, switching between them from time to time. You have to be ready to work in an environment where we always strive to deliver great service to the clients – sometimes that means going above and beyond your duties.
Louis – I think it is important to have perseverance and patience. Every developer will get blocked at times and so having the ability to step away, come back and try something different is essential.
Asking questions is an important learning tool, as is being able to explain things to others.
Mario – It’s important to share with the rest of your team. Ask for help whenever you need it.
Daniela – Yeah I would agree with that. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. We won’t know everything individually, so make the most of having a team around you.
Vasco – That’s definitely true. Even if everyone is working on pressing matters, once someone is free they’ll lend you a hand!
Tony: Finally, what does life outside the office look like for you?
Vasili – I’m into music composition, gaming and movies at the moment.
Lubos – I just became a dad so that’s my main interest at the moment. Other than that, cycling and focusing on self-growth.
Nick – Playing with my kids, playing the guitar, traveling, building my house, cycling, sledding and many simple hobbies.
Mauricio – Gardening, watching mechanic videos (but never doing any car fixing myself 😆 ) and doing DIY around the house.
Louis – I enjoy most sports such as swimming, playing hockey, cricket or watching rugby. I play a lot of modern board games and regularly meet up with friends for game nights. I also like puzzles and escape rooms.
Vasco – Similar to what’s been said. I like playing basketball, watching TV, going to the movies, and just hanging out with friends.
Mario – I’m into sports, I like watching soccer (EPL), I love racing-car sports, and try to practice other sports in my spare time.
Daniela – I love animals! I scuba dive when I’m abroad and birdwatch when I’m in the UK. I’ve recently placed a bird-feeder on the window opposite my desk to be able to spot them while I work, but so far no birds have come. I also enjoy painting and sculpting, and I’ve started going to life drawing classes every Wednesday after work.
If this sounds like a team you want to be part of, Bit Zesty is currently looking for Ruby on Rails, JavaScript and Python developers. Take a look at the job descriptions and apply.
