In this podcast episode, Krzysztof Nowocin, Data Developer at ITMAGINATION, joins us talking about his hobbies, work-life balance, remote work, and his career path moving from System Admin to Junior Data Developer and then to Data Developer.
Interested in joining the team? We have many open opportunities available to develop unique data solutions!
Aleksander: Hello, and Welcome. My name is Aleksander Jess. I am amarketing specialist at ITMAGINATION, and today I'm joined by KrzysztofNowocin, who is a Data Developer at ITMAGINATION.
Hello, Krzysztof. Howis the sea today?
Krzysztof: I hope that it's warm, probably today I will walk by thesea, so I can check the temperature.
Aleksander: Warm by the Polish standards or by normal standards? Becausethat's a “warm” by the Polish ones is 15 [degrees Celsius]. And you're callingin from Gdynia, right now.
Krzysztof: Yeah. I live here and I work from here.
Aleksander: So, that's somewhat remote work for the win. If you had todescribe yourself using three words, what would they be?
Krzysztof: Yeah, the hardest question at the beginning?
Well, I guess that I like to skill up. I don't like stayingat home too much. As far as you said, I have a sea nearby, so I really like towalk [along the coast]; do all the other activities probably; also spend some timeon my hobbies.
Aleksander: Right. You like to spend time outside, so I guess that we'renot playing any time soon…
Krzysztof: Yeah, unfortunately, I guess that's as [long] as the weatheris fine, I would prefer to have fun, walk over [the neighborhood], by the city,go to [a café] outside, rather than staying home and just playing computergames. But I guess that in two months, I will join you.
Aleksander: Ok, I'll take your word for it. So you've been actuallyliving by the sea, all your life. Are you doing any water sports after work?
Krzysztof: Well, I have to say that I like to test everything so I havean open water diver license; I've tried some water skiing by the lake and soon. But if I had to be honest, it didn't go as well. So I prefer all the of thesports where you can wear your shoes rather than the water ones.
Aleksander: Understood. Understood. You also are quite a photographer,aren't you?
Krzysztof: Yeah, I think photography is a pretty cool hobby. You can do[a lot] with your camera…There are [many] possibilities. You can make aportrait…You can take a landscape…Sports…Long exposure… And so on. So, I liketo have fun and [use] different, different, techniques, so, it's never boring.
Nevertheless, I'm just an amateur photographer, sosometimes, from time to time, I go, and help my friends take the photos oftheir weddings, of their any other celebrations, and just having fun.
Aleksander: I'm hearing [numerous] possibilities and a lot of differentthings going on because you do a lot of sports. You said you like outdoors,photography…Is your work life the same as your private life? Many things goingon?
Krzysztof: Yeah, I think [so], yes, my journey with [being a] datadeveloper started with, I may say, like a back end where I was preparing somedata warehouses, some ETL processes. One day I've just had a chance to pick upa Power BI project where I had to prepare something more…some UI/UX skills andhad to test it myself.
So I've done a report, done another report, and each [andevery] next [was] a bit better. This tool gives you, just like in photography,many possibilities to present the data in many, many ways…
Aleksander: …and getting better each time you prepare something?
Krzysztof: Getting better and better. The tool is being upgraded [each]month, so you need to, well… Follow the latest updates, to, well…To prepare thebest solution for the banks.
Aleksander: How is the tool getting updated?
Krzysztof: Yeah, so each month they bring some new tools and newfeatures; some of them are just in preview, so you can test [them]. It's notthe final release, but you can use [them] on the report.
There is also… Each month, they present them in a cool YouTubevideo, so I try to follow them and know about the latest, the latest things. Forexample, last month, they added a new possibility; some conditional formatting whichwas missing and some visuals I was using. So it's pretty fine. And stuff likethis.
Aleksander: Would you say you have a chance to use new features at workoften or…How is it?
Krzysztof: Well, it's not that often, I may say, because some bigfeatures which were presented [towards the end] of 2020 which I was using. Wewere waiting with the client for the feature, which enabled two methods of work- which was connecting the live connection to the data and an import, whichwasn't available but was really missing.
We were waiting for this feature to be present for likethree or four months because it was announced that it will [appear]. Finally,[the new release] came with it, so we had the chance to try it out.
Aleksander: Ok, I see. So you are now a data dev, and it seems likeyou're loving it, but you weren't a data dev to begin with because you actuallybegan as a network admin.
Krzysztof: Yeah, I did. I was working in my previous job, as I may say,a System Administrator where I. Well, basically everything that should beconnected to electricity and work was on my shoulders.
So I was doing stuff: from switching the keyboards up,[through] starting Windows [machines] up, [to] the administration of some smallnetwork, area storage and stuff like this. So if you are doing it for a fewyears, you are getting bored, I might say, because you do things again, andagain, and again, so
you are looking for some new possibilities.
That's why I was thinking about [making] some change. And [when] my newest friendstarted [to work as] data developers, well, uh, I spoke with him. He told meabout how does it look like. I decided that maybe I will try out myself atworking in this profession as well.
Aleksander: And you're at ITMAGINATION for three and a half years now,aren't you? How did it start? How did the journey at ITMAGINATION start?
Krzysztof: Yeah. Basically, the fact I was speaking about is one of theemployees which is working a few months more than I am. So he basically told meabout the job, as I've said previously. So I've just earned one Microsoft Certificate to [showcase]some skills in [presenting] data, and I've [sent my résumé]. That's how itstarted.
Aleksander: Ok, I see so. He also received some monetary bonus for a referral.For a successful one.
Krzysztof: Yeah. He did, that's why he was probably very pleased tograb my CV, but he described me as a good person, as I've heard from the manager[during the interview]. They found out that I was a good candidate, I hope. Healso got the bonus.
Aleksander: So you began as a Junior Data Dev, and now you are a DataDev. How was it? How was the transition?
Krzysztof: Yeah, I had to say that I had an awesome, awesome team[when] I started, I had a few friends. I could really ask for help. They taughtme a lot of different, different things about the data, about SQL, all about theSIS, which is this ETL [Extract, Transform, Load] tool I was speaking about, previously.So I had the chance to skill up really fast thanks to the people I've met in thecompany. So it is pretty awesome.
If I had to be honest, I started to be a Data Dev [startingout as a] Junior in just a few months, so it was quick. But I guess that I haveto thank the people I've met here.
Aleksander: Because from what I've read on LinkedIn, you have tworecommendations and both of them are talking about being a team player. Andyou're a team player, both in private and in work life as well. Well, howimportant is a good team for you?
Krzysztof: Yeah, I think that I think having a team is really importantbecause it often happens that something doesn't go as planned in the project. Ifyou have a good team, know how to shuffle your tasks between the people; someof them are really doing everything to make everything work or sometimes stay abit longer to end the task, so you can end your tasks the next day, it's very,very important. Also, sharing the knowledge; solving the problems is everythingthat makes up way much easier when you have team members that can help you.
Aleksander: Right. I totally agree with you. And on that note, it's timeto end. Krzysztof, thank you so much for your time.
Krzysztof: Thanks a lot. Have a good day.
Aleksander: It was a pleasure to talk to you, and have a good day aswell. Cheers.
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