What does your role at Instaclustr entail?

I’m a senior software engineer, usually working directly with the Java codebase. I’m currently in the General Scrum, so we look at fixing bugs and making enhancements to the overall product. It really involves the full gamut of the software lifecycle: designing, writing, testing, reviewing, and deploying. We also work closely with the rest of our Instaclustr colleagues to make sure we’re getting our priorities right.

What does a typical day look like for you?

Each day starts with a standup, where our team goes through the current tasks, what we accomplished yesterday, and what our goal is for today. The day might be made up of writing design documents, working with the technical operations team to get clarity on a piece or work, writing code, testing code, or performing code reviews for colleagues. We’re good about helping one another out with reviews and testing; if someone gets stuck the team is there to help. There might also be design meetings or town halls thrown in as well.

How did you first get interested in technology?

I remember the exact moment. My dad sat me down and introduced me to BASIC – I was about 10 years old. We wrote a program together to answer a homework problem: adding up letters in a word (a=1, b=2, etc) to find as many words as we could where the value equaled 100. Using the program we wrote, I was able to find the most words in the class by a huge margin. It felt great and I was hooked!

And your formal education followed in that path?

Yes – I earned a degree in Software Engineering from the Australian National University. From there I went into a consulting job with a multinational services integrator. That gave me a good grounding in IT and a real-world understanding of best practices, but the slowness of change became too frustrating over time.

When did you join Instaclustr – and why?

I started in January 2019. I was initially drawn to Instaclustr for a couple of reasons. One, the opportunity to work with newer and more interesting technologies was a change I was plenty ready for. I also knew I wanted to work in more of a startup environment; watching the company grow is a definite benefit, and it’s an exciting time to be here.

What’s been your favourite part about Instaclustr since joining?

Definitely the opportunities available to a software engineer like myself. There’s so much going on that you can put your hand up and get involved in some really interesting things. Really, we work with such a wide range of cutting-edge technologies that there is so much opportunity for continual learning and development.

In your opinion, what makes someone a good fit to be a software engineer?

It certainly helps to have a healthy curiosity about how things work, and a desire to get in there and fix stuff. For anyone considering this career path, get your hands dirty. Get into some code and break things and fix them again. It’s the best way to learn.

Interested in working for Instaclustr?  View our current openings here. Alternatively, you can also write to us at [email protected]