From Poland to China, Meet Our Java Developer, Jakub Kowalczyk
Nearly one month ago, Jakub Kowalczyk, Java Developer from the Cosmose Engineering Team in Poland joined Cosmose APAC in a life changing move from Warsaw to Shanghai. Find out what he’s been through and how he’s settling in with the APAC team!
1) What did your role at the Cosmose Engineering Center in Warsaw entail? How does it contrast with your current role at Cosmose APAC?
During my time at the Cosmose Engineering Center in Warsaw, I was a Java Developer in the data team, which is mainly responsible for storing, managing and reporting information about the stores and locations that we scan. I’ve also supported the optimization of our internal admin panel features, which facilitates the data management process.
The move to Cosmose APAC doesn’t mean my responsibilities have changed, however, what’s new is that I can provide technical support directly to the APAC team instead of having to go through calls and emails.
2) What triggered this life changing move to China? Did you see opportunity or challenge in this chance offered by Cosmose?
My interest in China dates back to when I first signed up for Wushu classes in high-school. Soon after, I began learning Chinese (which I’m still pretty bad at), followed by a half-year-long scholarship program in Beijing, and before I knew it — here I am, working with the good people of Cosmose APAC in Shanghai!
Cosmose opened the doors to achieving two of the things I’m passionate about, programming and China. Luckily, my two passions seemed to align quite well with the company’s plans. Although amazing, this move did not come without its challenges, the biggest one being the time difference between Shanghai and Warsaw. Even after moving to China, I’m still part of the engineering team in Warsaw. This makes the planning and coordination quite tricky; for instance, when I’m close to calling it a day, the Warsaw team has only started. Lucky for me, most of the programmers back in Warsaw are quite the early birds.
3) In what ways do you believe your role will support the development of the Cosmose APAC team ?
Currently, I’m hoping that my being here can help and solve some of the technical issues the APAC team experiences on a day to day basis as well as facilitating the communication between the technical team in Warsaw and the more business oriented APAC team. In other words, I’m working towards international peace & love!
4) Any projections for the future? Do you see yourself further developing in the Asia market?
I hope to continue working with the APAC team as it’s both educational and fun. There are also plans for creating tight knit partnerships with local ad platforms and data providers, so the future looks quite exciting!
