Frontend Interview Series! Interview With Sergiusz Strumiński

This is a series of interviews with our developers who would like to contribute to our culture of knowledge sharing. Read more in the article below

Do you have any experience before NG? If so, tell us about what you did before Netguru?

My story with programming started a long time ago. Together with some friends, we created a local network and I made some basic scripts for easier administration of that network. Later I started working with local businesses for a while. I developed web, CMS, and CRM services. Then I worked as a web application developer for the leading press & books operator Inmedio. I developed and extended a dedicated web application used within the company as well as in important commercial centers, airports, and railway stations.

After that, I joined Gadu-Gadu (currently GG Network S.A.) - it was the time when Facebook arrived in Poland. Facebook didn't look very attractive back then, but it brought a lot of good for the development of social media. Gadu-Gadu started a web messaging platform and I worked as a web applications developer for projects like Open FM, GG Drive, Gadu Air, and other smaller parts for standalone instant messaging tools.

Later came time for something even bigger, one of the largest and fastest-growing R&D centers in Poland - Samsung R&D. It was a long journey. I started as a developer of modern mobile web applications for the Tizen platform for multiple device categories (smartphones, watches, and TVs). Tizen is an open source operating system. If you have a Samsung TV it is quite likely that it is operated by Tizen. Then I moved to another challenging project - a virtual assistant named "Bixby". It is a new kind of artificial intelligence platform that enables developers to create an intelligent, conversational interface for anything and creates a way to talk to devices and services everywhere.

And now my story continues here :)

What are the projects you have experienced so far at Netguru?

When I joined Netguru, I mostly had short-term assignments in projects that needed quick help and consultations. After the first three months, I joined Netguru's internal "special forces". We built and improved software delivery processes, provided services for Netguru's teams, and helped with putting out fires. We offered our expertise, knowledge, and experience to guide every team in need. While doing that, I was asked to join the project team for the leading convenience stores operator.

In the meantime, I have been involved in a frontend recruitment group, where as a technical recruiter, I am enjoying meeting new candidates and doing pair programming sessions with them. Right now I am the head of the frontend recruitment group and I enjoy finding new potential employees (team members) for Netguru.

What’s your favorite technology and why?

I cannot say that it is JavaScript one hundred percent, but let's say that it is 99% :) I always leave some space for something new and the proportions might change with time. When it comes to JavaScript, every computing device in use today runs it, and this is my favourite thing about JavaScript - availability and device coverage.

What would you like to learn in the next 12 months?

Many "big things" can happen in the span of twelve months. Technology is fascinating because we cannot predict where it will take us. Everything that will improve and transform our lives (robotics, IoT, data analytics) excites and inspires me to discover new solutions, platforms, and tools that I can use in everyday work. I'm not limiting myself, I grab what excites me at any given time and work with it.

What do you consider to be your most significant learning up to date (success or failure)?

Automate everything you can.

To put it simply: don't repeat yourself.

Reuse things.

Break things.

If you make a mistake, don't dwell on it but learn from it.

Ask for help, don't be afraid.

Do not overthink, just let it go, usually the most obvious and simple thing is the best solution.

Focus on what to do next, learn to compartmentalize.

Know your limits.

But the most important thing is passion, without it it is impossible to enjoy your work and do it well.

How do you grow yourself outside Netguru, and what could you recommend to others (books, podcasts, courses, platforms, vlogs, etc.)?

You can pass your time in a huge digital library like YouTube, search for your topic, dive into the results and watch or listen during your activities.

Exchange knowledge with people from other projects/companies.

Check if your library/platform has a blog.

Try something new, spend some time learning new libs/tools, experiment with them.

Sites: dev.to, web.dev, kentcdodds.com, 2ality.com, indepth.dev, netflixtechblog.com, javascriptweekly.com, syntax.fm

Personally, I prefer non-technical books, but if I had to pick work-related ones:

General: Clean Code, The Pragmatic Programmer, Data Structures and Algorithms (Aho, Ullman, Hopcroft),

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software

JS: You don't know JS, JavaScript: The Good Parts, JavaScript Patterns (Stefanov)