Mindecs Tech Careers Podcast #11 Steven Jackson the Software Engineering Leaderin job market

In the latest episode of the Mindecs Tech Careers podcast, we had the privilege of speaking with Steven Jackson, a distinguished software engineering leader who is currently navigating the job market in search of a senior executive role: Steven’s extensive experience and thoughtful insights made for an engaging and informative discussion.

A Journey of Leadership and Innovation

Steven Jackson’s career in the tech industry spans over two decades, during which he has held numerous leadership positions. His journey is a testament to the power of continuous learning and adaptability. Throughout the podcast, Steven shared stories from his career, highlighting the importance of staying current with technological advancements and fostering a culture of innovation within teams.

 

The Competitive Landscape of Senior Executive Roles

One of the central themes of the episode was the current state of the job market for senior executives in the tech industry. Steven noted that while opportunities abound, the competition is intense. He emphasized that candidates must not only demonstrate their technical prowess but also their ability to lead and inspire. Companies today are looking for leaders who can drive growth, manage complex challenges, and foster a culture of innovation.

 

Building a Personal Brand

Steven also discussed the importance of building a strong personal brand. He offered practical advice on how to effectively market oneself, from optimizing LinkedIn profiles to engaging in meaningful networking. Steven’s key takeaway was to be authentic and consistent in your messaging, as this builds credibility and trust within the industry.

The Power of Mentorship

Another significant topic was the role of mentorship in career development. Steven underscored the value of both having mentors and being a mentor to others. He believes that mentorship is a two-way street that not only aids personal growth but also strengthens the tech community. Steven encouraged listeners to seek out mentors who can provide guidance and support, especially during career transitions.

Looking Forward

As Steven continues his search for a senior executive role, he remains optimistic about the future. He is confident that his extensive experience and leadership skills will open doors to exciting opportunities. Steven’s parting advice to fellow job seekers is to stay resilient, keep learning, and never underestimate the power of networking.

 

Enjoy the podcast!

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Mindecs Tech Careers Podcast #10 Zach Wills from Haven

Haven: Re-imagining the $11 trillion U.S. mortgage industry

In this episode, we enjoyed hosting Zach Wills, a true tech trendsetter and modernized, the Head of Engineering at Haven. The 10th episode of the Mindecs Tech Careers Podcast is a must-listen for early-career professionals seeking insights and inspiration. A lot of insights on both success and fail cases from our extremely experienced guest

Zach is a visionary in the tech industry, recognized as a 2023 HW Tech Trendsetter for his transformative work in modernizing the housing industry through technology. During our conversation, Zach delved into the challenges of mortgage servicing and how Haven’s approach to first-party data and predictive analytics is revolutionizing the sector. He shared insights on the importance of user-centric design, revealing how Haven’s borrower dashboard has achieved a remarkable 65% paperless billing opt-in rate.

haven logo

Here are the key points from the podcast:

1. Zach’s Journey: We discussed how Zach tried to run his consultancy business and what advice he could share with those wanting to start their own business.

2. How to build and manage the team:  We discussed key points of how our guest hires and manages the team afterward. How to get the right person and deliver a great product.

3. Haven career: Our guest shared what Haven is about, and how it helps people with mortgages, even if they don’t know they are using Haven’s services.

Conclusion

Zach’s commitment to innovation and customer experience is setting new industry standards, making this podcast a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of technology and housing. Our guest is interesting for both beginners and experienced professionals. For a deep dive into Zach’s journey and the groundbreaking initiatives at Haven, tune in to the full episode.

 

Enjoy the podcast!

Hire best developers with Mindecs!

Mindecs Tech Careers Podcast #9 Cezary Tomczyk from SiteLint

SiteLint: Discover what your real users are experiencing

The 9th Episode is a non-standard one, because not only Abulfaz Ahmadov was hosting the podcast, but also our partner Viktor Didenchuk participated, in interviewing together our special guest – Cezary Tomczyk from Sitelient. In March 2023, the Founder of SiteLint, took the stage at A11yTalks and agreed to talk to us in the new episode of Mindecs Tech Careers Podcast.

What is interesting about SiteLint is that Cezary emphasized the need to significantly recalibrate the remediation process. Accessibility quality testing is crucial, especially as web apps and sites grow in complexity. SiteLint’s innovative approach goes beyond traditional crawling and server-side analysis. By combining manual and automated testing, they’ve transformed the landscape. SiteLint’s approach considers real-world scenarios, ensuring that accessibility testing aligns with actual user experiences.

Here are the key points from the podcast:

1. Cezary’s Journey: Our guest told us how he started his career, and how the industry looked like back then.

2. Accessibility industry: Why this industry is so important now, and how the product improves the standards for quality. Just imagine, nearly 1 billion people are somehow under the category of target audience.

3. Challenges: SiteLint team had a lot of challenges on the way, and Cezary told how he is dealing with them, as an entrepreneur.

Conclusion

Cezary highlighted the importance of understanding how users interact with digital content. Additionally, his rich experience allows to get something really important for those who like to start their product. And definitely, Viktor added his contrast to the episode with interesting questions he had.

Enjoy the podcast!

Hire the best developers with Mindecs!

Mindecs Tech Careers Podcast #7 Esteban Michalowski from Altapay

AltaPay: Simplifying Payments

In the new episode of our podcast, we had the pleasure of hosting Esteban Michalowski, the Chief Technology Officer at Altapay, who is a seasoned full-stack software engineer and architect. With over 15 years of hands-on experience, Esteban has been instrumental in shaping Altapay’s technical and product strategy.

Altapay, based in Copenhagen, aims to make payments less complicated for its clients. With a team of over 40 members, they’ve been in the FinTech industry for a while.

 

Here are the key points from the podcast:

1. Altapay and Esteban: Our guest told us a story about how he became CTO at Altapay

2. How Esteban is hiring:  Esteban reveals why the test task is required in his opinion, even though many candidates don’t like seeing them in the screening process.

3. Team management: We discussed how to build and manage teams effectively so as to deliver winning products.

Conclusion

Esteban Michalowski’s journey from self-taught engineer to CTO exemplifies the power of continuous learning, collaboration, and strategic thinking. Altapay’s commitment to simplifying payments and fostering innovation makes it an exciting place to be. Keep an eye on Esteban and Altapay—they’re shaping the future of FinTech!

Enjoy the podcast!

Hire best developers with Mindecs!

Mindecs Tech Careers Podcast #4 Claudio Paolicelli from GoBubble

GoBubble: Analyzing and understanding the emotional data in your community

Our 4th episode of Mindecs Tech Careers Podcast is about how Claudio Paolicelli and the team of GoBubble created a product that helps organizations and communities make better decisions, by understanding and distilling the emotional data in the community. Claudio told us about perspectives of Generative AI, the products they build, and how you can benefit from understanding the sentiment.

This podcast is also interesting thanks to our guest’s rich experience in building development teams and delivering products in different industries like gaming, generative AI, and others.

Here are some key takeaways from the podcast featuring Claudio Paolicelli:

1. Diverse Expertise: Claudio has a diverse background spanning the e-commerce/marketplace, banking, social, gaming, and AI sectors. His experience allows him to approach product development with a comprehensive and quality-focused mindset.

2. Leadership and Team Management: We discussed what our guest expects from people and what the Engineering Manager/CTO is about in the job. How to switch from an Engineering role to Engineering Manager Role.

3. Potential openings and opportunities: Claudio has announced some potential openings they might have in the future. Also, he revealed what should people do to stay competitive in modern market.

 

Conclusion

The episode is full of insights into different interesting topics for tech professionals. Starting with how the company tries to make communities safer and wisely use the data and up to Claudio’s rich experience of finding a good job, staying competitive in job market and how he builds his  teams.

Enjoy the podcast!

Mindecs Tech Careers Podcast #3 Intesar Mohamed from PerfAi

PerfAi: Creating the Future of APIs

In our latest episode of the Mindecs Tech Careers Podcast, we had the privilege of sitting down with Intesar Shannan Mohammed, Co-founder of PerfAI. This insightful conversation delves into the complexities of API testing and performance and how PerfAI’s cutting-edge technology is making a significant impact in this space.

During the conversation, not only did our guests talk about the way they revolutionized API testing, but also revealed some insights on Generative AI trends and how to stay competitive in the job market nowadays.

PerfAi team creates amazing products and the team has won the API World 2023 Award for “BEST in DevOps APIs”.

PerfAi team

Here are the key takeaways from the podcast:

1. AI-Driven Optimization: Discover how PerfAI leverages AI algorithms to optimize API performance, also you can know more about PerfAI products.

2. How to become the CTO: We discussed what it takes to become a good CTO if you are a software engineer, and what will make you a good CTO.

3. How to stay competitive: We touched on the problem of AI making people more effective, will it reduce jobs? Or will it create even more opportunities?

Conclusion

This episode stands out as a treasure trove of insights, where Intesar Mohamed sheds light on the evolving landscape of technology careers, emphasizing the importance of continuous learning and adaptability in a rapidly changing industry.

Enjoy the Podcast!

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Mindecs Tech Careers Podcast #2 Dmitry Zviagilsky from Ridocu

Ridocu: Making Bureaucracy simple

We are excited to launch the second episode of Mindecs Tech Careers Podcast, where we discuss different stories of interesting people from the industry. In the Episode, Abulfaz discusses with Dmitry Zviagilsky, the Founder and CEO of Ridocu the challenges of building the startup, immigration problems, and financial runway.

Ridocu comes from “Rid of documents”. Dmitry with the team tries to make the interaction of immigrants with the governments easier. The application has already been launched for Android, and we expect it soon to appear on Apple App Store.

Here are the key points from the podcast:

1. Turn bad things into positive outcomes: The idea of this app existed for nearly 10 years before Dmitry decided to try it and the layoff helped him to finally get started.

2. Immigration problems: Not only do you have to deal with a lot of bureaucracy, but also other challenges, like language problems, lack of experience, etc.

3. Financial runway: We touched on the problem of financial runway, and why startups need to act quickly and start making revenue as soon as it’s possible.

Conclusion

As we wrap up this podcast-inspired blog post, let’s raise a virtual toast to Dmitry Zviagilsky and Ridocu. In our opinion, this project is a good example, of trying to solve a real problem, with a huge audience that encounters it.

Enjoy the podcast!

 

Mindecs Tech Careers Podcast #1 Dan Ghitza from Zarzilla Games

Building a Gaming Empire with Passion and Purpose

We are happy to launch our first episode of Mindecs Tech Careers Podcast, where we discuss different stories of interesting people from the industry. In this Episode, Abulfaz has discussed with Dan Ghitza, the CEO of Zarzilla Games the industry of Social Card Games.

In the dynamic world of gaming, where creativity meets technology, few leaders stand out as boldly as Dan Ghitza, the visionary CEO of Zarzilla. In our recent podcast episode, we had the privilege of diving deep into Dan’s journey, exploring the secrets behind Zarzilla’s success, and uncovering the essence of building a gaming empire.

Dan Ghitza, Zarzilla Games

Dan Ghitza, Zarzilla Games CEO

Here are the key points from the podcast:

1. Dan Ghitza: As the CEO of ZARZILLA, Dan brings a wealth of experience and insights into the gaming industry.

2. Business Building: Dan delves deep into the intricacies of building a successful gaming company. He shares valuable lessons on creating a brand and emphasizes the importance of having fun in whatever you do.

3. ZARZILLA: The gaming company led by Dan has achieved remarkable success, and his vision for the brand is inspiring.

Conclusion

As we wrap up our podcast episode, one thing is clear: Dan’s approach to business is refreshingly different. He reminds us that success isn’t just about numbers; it’s about the thrill of creation, the joy of play, and the magic of connecting with gamers worldwide.

Please enjoy the podcast!

Why you should consider offshore development team in Eastern Europe

Offshore software development in Eastern Europe is a hot topic nowadays in the modern IT industry. More and more companies choose to outsource software development and one of the most reasonable destinations are Eastern European countries like Ukraine, Poland, Belarus just to name a few. There are plenty of reasons why companies do so, let’s consider 3 the most important ones.

1. The great pool of talented software engineers.

This region can boast of having a lot of talented people involved in the tech industry.  A lot of modern young people chose the IT industry and study computer science related professions like software engineering, big data, applied mathematics, and others. What is interesting, the number of software developers constantly grows, thanks to high-quality tech education in the region. Professionals from Eastern Europe are renowned around the world for the high-quality job and they have achieved great results. Students constantly achieve great results in different international competitions and hackathons.

2. Convenient Geographical location,  English proficiency.

Eastern European countries have higher than average English proficiency, especially people who work in the tech field can boast of having quite a high foreign language skills. They are traveling a lot, open-minded and agile, they like discovering new cultures, learning more about foreign countries.
What is also important, this region has developed infrastructure and also has direct connections to cities in the USA. It’s very close to Western European countries, only a few hours difference in timezone. Traveling within Europe is convenient.

3. Cost-effectiveness.

One of the most important reasons why more and more companies extend their team remotely by development teams from this region is a cost-effectiveness. While a good software developer costs on average 100 000$+social package in the USA, here, you can hire an experienced and high-quality engineer with an average rate of 30-40$ per hour. It’s much cheaper, getting the same result.

Why Ukraine?

Ukraine is the biggest country in Europe.  A lot of gifted engineers live in this country. The great number of companies have R&D offices here, like Oracle, Snap inc, Samsung electronics just to name a few. The great number of big companies have outsourced to software development companies in Ukraine like Just Answer, Jabra, Just Eat and a lot of others.

5 Apps That Are Needed to Work Remotely

Nowadays it’s much easier to grow your team remotely than whenever before. More and more startups and even big companies are inclined to provide this opportunity for their workers to give them more flexibility with work and life balance. Moreover, it allows them to hire talents globally, from other cities and even countries and continents not just locally where they are based.

Obviously, there are plenty of advantages and disadvantages in hiring and managing people remotely. If you don’t have a culture of working remotely in your company and you are thinking about trying then it’s a great moment for trying. Let’s consider 5 apps that really would be helpful for this purpose:

1.Slack. The great app for communication of your team.

You need a great tool to keep in touch with members of your team. It can be any messenger you like let it be Telegram, Skype, Whatsapp or Slack. The last one has a convenient system for managing groups of your developers different channels and manage it really easily. One thing you should keep in mind that comparing to other ones, despite the fact that Slack has free plan, it’s quite restricted and probably, you would need advanced plan that is not free. It’s always up to you what to choose for your team, just try all the tools and see which one is the best for you.

Slack image

 

2.Google Hangouts. One of the best tools for video calls.

You would definitely need sometimes voice calls to discuss your project together with your team. It’s obvious so that we have to mention about tool like Google hangouts, as it’s convenient easy to use, all you need is a gmail account, it has a mobile app also and it works well with all of the Google apps what is an advantage definitely.

Surely, you can choose also other tools for this purpose like Skype, Zoom and others. The last one is great when it comes to large conferences. Skype is well integrated with Microsoft tools what can be a benefit if you use a lot of Microsoft tools.

3.Trello. Probably the best project management tool.

Definitely, you need a tool to manage your team. Trello is a great tool you can use to manage tasks for your team. It’s simple to use, provides free version and a lot of advanced features. There are also a lot of other great tools for project management like Jira, Asana, etc.  Luckily, we have enough great companies that help us manage our projects. These tools also can be useful not only for teams, but also for your personal usage to be more productive.

Trello image

4.Gitlab. Software development app you need anyway.

It would be a crime not to mention about version control tools. In 2019, you simply cannot allow not to use apps like Gitlab, it’s obvious. It helps your team to manage your code, keep track of versions, to build a flow of the development. This kind of tools are not special for remote programmers, but for programmers at all, no metter sitting close one to another in the office or being located in different cities.

What is also interesting, Gitlab is a unicorn startup, that recently reached 1 billion market cap and their team is fully distributed, all of them are working remotely.

There are a lot of alternatives to Gitlab if you don’t like it for some reason, like Bitbucket, Github and even other types of apps for version control.

5.Google drive. To store and share common docs.

We recommend for every project, to create a directory in the cloud so that every member of the team can access these documents once they need it. It’s not a good practice to share docs in messengers or sending them via email. You should be as organized as it’s possible and using Google drive is simple and helpful.

All you need to use Google drive is a gmail account and that’s it, that’s why we like it. You have 50 gigabytes of personal capacity in your storage. You can use Dropbox as well as your cloud storage for your common documents, it’s a great tool also that can be helpful.