The Life of a Software Developer at K15t
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The Life of a Software Developer at K15t
Who are you, and what do you do at K15t?
My name is Elrasheed Abdalla and I'm from Sudan. I started working at K15t in 2018.
I work as a software developer in the product development team for our Jira app Backbone Issue Sync. My tasks include many different activities, which means that I actually fulfill a holistic role of a developer. For example, I take care of designing and implementing the user interface, feature design and development, bug fixing, unit and integration testing, managing our development environment, and I contribute to the app's technical documentation too.
How did you hear about the job at K15t and what made you apply?
I actually started as a working student at K15t and was offered a permanent position after finishing my studies.
When I was doing my Master's in Software Engineering and Management, I was looking for a job as a working student to practice my field of study. Whilst searching on LinkedIn, I came across the perfect role at K15t and applied straight away. The process afterwards was very smooth. The folks at K15t quickly contacted me via email and invited me to an informal telephone call where I was able to get a sense for what the company culture was like and ask any initial questions.
But the really cool part came afterwards: Directly after my first in-person interview, one of the team members I'd spoken to invited me to the next K15t TeamTalks, which at that time (before Coronavirus) was an after-work event that took place regularly in the K15t office space. Today I am very happy that I went to this event because I got to know a lot of great people and got a feel for the culture. I left the event feeling convinced that I wanted to be part of the K15t team, before I even knew I would get the job. It was just great!
What makes working at K15t special?
One of the reasons why I enjoy working here so much is the freedom I have in fulfilling my tasks as well as the numerous opportunities to share my opinion as an employee of the company. Having a say in how things get done does not only affect my daily tasks, but also the product and the direction the team should take which is pretty cool.
Also, I always feel that people treat each other in the right way at K15t. Respect and mutual understanding always count when working together and you really get the feeling that everyone in the team is looking after each other which is rare to find anywhere else.
What also makes working at K15t special is that we can turn our own ideas into reality during our regular Hacketse. It is a lot of fun to see how a small idea can become something really great.
What impact does K15t's culture have on your work?
Because everyone's opinions are valued, I always feel very well involved in business matters and know the big picture of what the company is focused on. This also allows me to better assess how I myself can contribute to the success of K15t and to set myself goals that I want to achieve at work.
The collaboration in self-managed teams is also very harmonic and dynamic. Decisions are therefore not made by a boss who stands above everyone else, but they are made as a team. Decisions are well thought-out as they involve different perspectives from the people who are close to the action and have the relevant expertise.
There are also challenges that I face at work – but in a positive way. I frequently work on new projects, work with modern technologies and new challenges, and by doing so, I've been able to develop myself. For anyone who's looking for a new role I can say that if you would like to work in self-managed teams, work on some cool apps, grab hold of opportunities that come your way and forge a successful career for yourself, I can highly recommend joining the K15t team.
What's your best memory of working at K15t?
I found out pretty fast that at K15t everybody attaches great importance to a close relationship with each other, no matter if it's a working student or the CEO. Once our CEO Stefan asked me if I would like to go mountain climbing with him and a few others from the company over the weekend. This was when my mindset changed. I've never experienced this close relationship between the management and the other employees before and, in the beginning, was very surprised by Stefan's question. Today I know that this moment is a very typical moment that describes one of the values at K15t perfectly: Have fun, seriously!
Enough about work, what do you do in your free time?
Even though I've been in Stuttgart for a while now, I'm still discovering the city and its surroundings. I also enjoy waking up early on the weekends to read a good book, going cycling and hiking, and meeting with friends.
This post is part of a series in which we would like to introduce you to different roles at K15t. Read more:
