Name: Benjie Tigley Job title: Software Engineer Years in Akubo: 5 years Education: BS Computer Science, University of Negros Occidental - Recoletos 3 Words to describe himself: Keeps moving forward
Tell us about your career so far. What did you do before you came to Akubo?
“I was a web developer for less than a year. We developed, maintained and enhanced eCommerce websites built on Magento and WordPress. It was a good experience, but somehow I felt like my career has been stagnant. That’s when I decided to look for an opportunity to grow, refine my skills, and progress professionally and personally.”
What originally drew you to apply to Akubo?
“I have heard of the company for quite a while, it was one of the popular IT companies in town. Not only that it seems like an opportunity to build the specific skills I want to be learning in my career, but also the way they treat their employees well.”
What projects do you work on?
“I am working on a manufacturing web application.”
How did you decide to become a Software Engineer and what do you like about it?
“I still remember my first programming class and I was amazed at how programming works. The math and logic involved were fascinating. Since then, I pictured out that coding is what I wanted. I love to learn, work on interesting problems and solve puzzles. A career in software engineering meets all of those needs.
I like writing code, it is like building castles in the sky. It gives me the power to create from pure thought. Also, I love the joy of always learning, the pleasure of making things that are useful to other people.”
Tell us about a typical day at work
“I start my day by checking emails, reading training and resources to do my work effectively. After that is the daily collaboration session with the client. Then, start my development tasks and end the day with a report.”
What’s the most rewarding part of being in Akubo?
“I think the rewarding part of being a Software Engineer is that you never stop learning. I think it is great because you’re not being stagnant and helps you keep up with the current technologies.”
What do you look forward to learning?
“I look forward to learning the Oracle technology stack as it is crucial to my current project. Oracle is one of the premier database and application providers in the Industry. I am looking forward to learning the skills related to it to make my work efficient.”
What things are you excited about Software Engineering or life in general?
“What excites me the most is to have a stable career and a happy life. No one ever finds life worth living – one has to make it worth living.”
What’s the key to managing / completing a project successfully?
“Based on my experience, the key to managing a project successfully is to plan everything well. You have to plan it thoroughly so that the implementation will be smooth and you will not keep going back to make changes.”
What do you find most challenging about your work? How do you deal with it?
“For me, the most challenging part of my work is to look for an error within a thousand lines of code and only to find out that the problem was just a missing semicolon.”
Who or what inspires you?
“FAMILY”
What are you passionate about outside of work?
“I love reading, playing games and a cup of coffee beside it. I love books. I love that moment when you open one and immerse in it. I enjoyed it even for hours and I just play games when I feel tired of reading. But of course, I love it even more if it’s in a nice café/place. My memories would be less vivid and pleasurable in the absence of a cup of coffee.”
Tell us about three career lessons that you have learned so far.
- Keep learning to avoid stagnation.
- Learn from your experience and you can also learn form the experiences of other people.
- You can rest but never quit.
Bonus Question!
Tell us what your ideal day looks like.
“My ideal day is simple, it just needs to include my core values: health, inner peace, creativity, growth and most of all, a cup of coffee.”