Meet Cochl’s Team: Quentin Santos, Mobile Engineer
Q. Could you briefly introduce yourself, please?
Hello there, my name is Quentin and I’m a Mobile Engineer at Cochl. I graduated about a year ago and worked in a startup before joining the team. My job is about creating and improving, and I think I’ve always loved to do that. When I was in high school, I used to create 3D models and sell them online already. At the time, I wanted to work in the robotics area, but I soon realized that the best way to create anything was definitely coding. So that’s what I did.
While majoring in computer science, I had the chance to study for one year in Seoul and I just fell in love with the city. There is a lot to say, but mostly Seoul is alive 24/7. Unlike most French cities, you can get a meal, drinks, or snacks regardless of time. It’s close to the sea and mountains and I can also travel to nearby Asian countries. Basically, the city itself is so convenient.
Q. What are you responsible for at Cochl’s dev team in detail?
Recently, I’ve been working closely with both backend and design teams to make a mobile version of our dashboard app. As the first mobile engineer at Cochl, I am in charge of building and maintaining the company’s mobile application, from scratch.
My previous experiences showed me how important it is to work with a structured design system, and I am so glad to have it. I’ve made a few apps in the past but nothing on this scale, so being in charge of this project is a perfect opportunity to improve my skills.
Q. What made you join this company?
Before joining Cochl, I had the chance to turn down other offers. I had an interview here and my overall feeling was really nice. Not to mention the company benefits, I actually didn’t know there were a few other French guys so I was really surprised on my first day and everything went smoothly since then.
Although Seoul was my initial push towards moving to Korea, I’ve always had some liking for working in startups, during my internships as well as in my previous job. I like the vibe and culture of startups, and I just feel comfortable being able to close and communicate with everyone around me. It is satisfying to see our efforts turn into something significant and being proud of what I am doing is really important to me.
Q. What do you want to achieve in this second half of the year?
There is a lot to be done. We are talking about creating designs, backend, and frontend (almost) in parallel. This requires good organization and can be a huge challenge. Fortunately, I believe our technical issues also are a good way to communicate, learn to work as a team, and improve our skills.
Although such a project cannot be completed in a short time, we are doing our best to prioritize features and hope to release the first version by the end of this year.
I think it became usual for startups to update and improve their product regularly, that is what we are aiming for.
Q. How was your onboarding process while joining Cochl?
I think it was smooth. I was greeted by Tom and Ben on my first day and both of them are French guys so it made things easier. They could show me around quickly and we discussed daily life here, the company, culture and working style!
As my arrival overlapped with Ben’s leave, we had many gathering events. My Korean is not good enough yet but I have set myself a goal to remember everyone’s name as quickly as possible, to be able to talk with them. Fortunately, most people speak English well, so I could get to know them easily.
Q. How do you define yourself at work?
I like a job well done, and that left me with a bunch of unfinished side projects. I am constantly trying to find the right balance between what would be perfect and what is truly necessary, basically trying to work smarter, not harder. I usually start the week with a few articles and newsletters about the tools I’m using. This is a good way to stay up-to-date and sometimes learn useful tips.
I love to communicate with other team members. From my perspective, working as a team is the best. Though, I believe that if it doesn’t take too much time, solving problems by myself is also a good way to improve and is more rewarding!
Q.What about in the case of learning Korean?
My goal is to become fluent in Korean and I intend to keep studying as long as necessary.
I have a close friend and she lives nearby my house. We used to teach each other French / Korean but our schedules don’t always match. Apart from that, I have been continuously taking Korean classes for the last year and studying with Duolingo (700+ day streak). As I don’t want to bother my friends too much, I am also hanging out a lot on language exchange apps.
Q.What was the most memorable event during your time at Cochl?
I can say ‘회식’ because it happened relatively early in my life at Cochl. This event allows people to gather to eat and drink. Thanks to that, I could talk and laugh with everyone and this helped me to feel part of the team.
We recently went for a trip to Yangyang, some of us could surf and some went around the place, but we ended up having a BBQ and partying together. This was my first time seeing the beach in Korea and I’ll keep very good memories of this trip!
Q. What kind of people would like to join Cochl?
I don’t feel too much pressure working at Cochl, and I think that is really good for autonomous people, but could be more difficult for others. We work with almost completely flexible hours, and it depends on you to do what’s to be done. Although I am rather new here, from my point of view someone independent with a sense of responsibility would fit well in the company.
Q. One last word you want to say to readers?
I am really happy and feel lucky to have joined Cochl. Up until now, I can truly say that my professional life in Korea exceeds all my expectations. Being able to create something valuable and be part of a good company, in a city I love, is such a chance and I am grateful for this opportunity!
