I recently joined Human Made as a Cloud Engineer. The application process spans a few weeks and I was super anxious with the whole thing. I was actually bracing myself for rejection. But when offer has finally been made, I was jacked to the tits!
This is a big win and exciting for me for multitude of reasons:
Culture
Start with trust, and be trustworthy
The whole company values aligns with mine and makes a lot of sense. I strive in a trusting environment. I naturally give my best to people who supports me. The company have a big focus on the well-being of its people (also called Humans).
HR policies reflects company values. On my first day: 1) they provided more than adequate equipment 2) health care coverage to me and all my dependents 3) pro-rated paid time-off that I’m required to use, and other things that just shows how much they care.
Working with top-notch talent
I couldn’t believe it when I realized that our Director of Product (my boss) was the one who created WP-API.
I distinctly remember getting really excited when it first launched because I was working on a WP project that was AJAX/jQuery-heavy. The code base started to felt hacky the more features were implemented. When I tried WP-API (even though it was still in beta) together with AngularJS, development started to become enjoyable and easier to maintain. It made my life and that project’s code so much nicer!
I feel small around other Humans because of sheer amount of experience everybody have, which is a good thing. Feeling small only expands my opportunity of growth. Observing how other people do things makes me realize gaps in my knowledge that I need to fill-in. I also have access and learn from them. This position will only accelerate my growth.
New career path
I’m coming from full-stack web development. I’ve been doing this for more than a decade. However, I’ve always been drawn to servers, networking, and automation ever since I tried sharing our dial-up connection, for two computers, using a crossover LAN cable when I was a kid.
Applying required me to do a trial. The trial involves troubleshooting a broken stack. They provide all the documentation and access to AWS console. I was told that I don’t have to fix it but I need to write down my troubleshooting steps. I had so much fun doing the trial. It took me 4 hours of intense focus and frustration, but the satisfaction of finally making it work was just priceless.
I still have a lot of gaps in DevOps skills. I’m planning my next few years focusing and honing those to give more value back to the company. And also have fun learning along the way.
Validation of my current skillset
“There’s a deep satisfaction when you know how valuable you are, and the world agrees.” – Derek Sivers
I try not to seek validation. But it just feels good to know that my skills is on par with first-world talent.
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Despite emphasis on my skills, I still largely credit luck (being blessed) on how I landed in Human Made. My skills only maximized my chance, but overall I just got incredibly lucky (blessed).