First things first – how long have you been a 67 Bricker?
So I think it’s about three months now since I joined
What was your path here – what were you doing before, and why did you apply to join us?
I had been working in software for a year and a half before I joined 67 Bricks. I was just looking for a change when I started looking for a new job – somewhere a bit more supportive, working with newer tech and with more experienced people I could learn from. I got a call from a recruiter about the role with 67 Bricks, and then did some research – looked at the website, the developers’ blog and just read about the sort of business the company did, and it all looked really positive.
What was the selection process like?
It was all remote, but it was all very smooth. It was nice meeting a good selection of people – I think I met four or five at the interview. One tip I’d give to people looking to work here is not to be intimidated by the size of the interview panel. It can seem a lot to have four or five people all be there to talk to, but they were all really nice and made me feel very comfortable.
You’ve only been here a few months, but what are some of your favourite things you’ve worked on?
I’ve lucky enough to work on quite a bit of infrastructure work as well as looking more into DevOps side of things, which is something I was specifically looking to expand into when I joined. I’ve been able to use some technologies I was already familiar with while picking up more of what I think I need to become a more well-rounded developer.
Most of the team work remotely now – how have you found that switch and do you have any tips for new colleagues to stay feeling connected/motivated from home?
I worked remotely in my previous role, and that team weren’t particularly well connected, so I had some concerns about that when I was moving to 67 Bricks. I asked a lot of questions about how they managed a remote workforce to help me understand how that worked. Now I have integrated into my team here, I think we’re one of the most geographically spread in the company, but the team have been great and there have still been lots of opportunities to get to know people outside of the team too. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything by not being in the office.
In terms of self-motivation, I try to get away from the screens occasionally and stretch my legs – it’s important to me to keep everything moving. Plus it helps me when I’m in a call with people to have a bit of a wander – something which might be harder to do in person!
What do you think is the most important skill or attribute needed for developers working at 67 Bricks?
Having an open mind about new technologies you might not be familiar with and being open to learning from other people. There’s a huge range of expertise here and it’s worth picking people’s brains and learning from them. I’ve had an overwhelming amount of support from the senior developers in the team. At first, I didn’t want to bother people, I wanted to conduct my own research etc… But I’ve learned that speaking to someone for five minutes is often more beneficial than spending an hour on your own trying to figure it out. That being said, it’s useful to have a blend of the two approaches – there’s a middle ground where you need a base level in order to understand what someone is trying to tell you. So for me, it helped to do some research myself to understand the terminology and then I could hold a conversation with someone who could help me further.
Also, working in a small team with mostly full-stack developers it’s important to be able to put on any hat as the project requires and be up for the challenge of picking up whatever needs to be done to meet client’s needs.
How have you found working in scholarly publishing? Do you find it challenging?
I had zero domain knowledge of scholarly publishing before I came here. I’ve been picking up useful information such as ‘what is a DOI’, and what the usual workflows are in publishing. But day-to-day it hasn’t been too much of a disadvantage for me not knowing the field, as no matter the business area it’s secondary to applying the technology skills to achieve what the clients need. And there are plenty of others in the business, like the publishing consultants, who have lots of domain knowledge to share.
What would you say to anyone considering applying for a job with us?
What’s really stood out to me since joining is the amount of support and professional development available – it’s been exceptional. I was looking for somewhere to learn more and be pushed, and 67 Bricks has really accommodated that. For anyone who wants a company where they have a lot of say in what happens in the development side of things, 67 Bricks definitely offers that. It feels like agile done right.
