Say hello to Julita, a Full-Stack Engineer at iTech

It’s the first in our new series: Putting the odds in our favour: Meet the people that give iTech the edge. Find out what life at iTech looks like, Julita’s best memory from her time here so far and what’s on her bucket list for 2023.

Could you give us a brief introduction for our readers?

Hi, I’m Julita! I’m a Full-Stack Engineer, based in our Warsaw office in Poland. I’ve been with iTech for over three years, since October 2019.

What has been your career journey to date?

I always wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps and join the army, but it wasn’t to be, because of a knee condition. Since I had taken all the technical exams, I decided to apply to Warsaw University of Technology instead. I studied three subjects: Electronics, Computer Science and Telecommunications.

During my studies, I enjoyed Computer Science the most. I created my first big app in Java, and I realised that there is nothing I can’t learn: I wasn’t afraid of this new programming world and I started to learn new tech stacks.

After I graduated, I joined a small tech company working on websites and e-commerce. I picked a totally new stack: web development. I was there for almost 3 years, with small and big companies as my clients, using JS and PHP as my main tools. I learnt a lot, not only about technology, but also about business, different industries’ needs, as well as marketing, communication and design.

After three years, I was the most senior person in the team and couldn’t learn from others anymore. So I decided that I needed to grow… I found iTech and thought, this will be a perfect match!

What does day-to-day life in your role look like?

I’ve worked across a few different teams at iTech and my day-to-day has been different each time. I like taking on new challenges, so switching up my routine from time to time keeps things fresh and interesting!

Currently I start the day by reviewing the performance of products I’m working on — I enjoy tracking this.

My time is split across a number of different products, so my tasks vary. I implement new features, refactor code, make performance improvements and conduct code reviews. I create documentation, such as technical requirements and guides, that we share with external teams. I give my team progress updates, and join team discussions and planning sessions. Once a week I have a 1:1 with my manager, where I can talk about anything I want, including any successes or problems.

Every two weeks, we have a training day, a nice perk here at iTech! I use the time to learn about new technologies, stacks, features and tools. Everyone also has €1k budget every year to use to support their development.

I also like to get involved with other activities inside the company, supporting with recruitment, and initiatives like Hackathon and Tech Talks.

What has been your biggest learning at iTech?

The most precious thing for me, is that iTech gave me an opportunity to gain expertise in different fields and aspects of programming. Programming languages are only tools — there’s much more to the role than learning programming languages!

I’ve learnt a lot about accessibility, performance, security, data, design, UX, SEO, product, and business, from the people I work with at iTech Media. There’s lot of things that can only be learnt from real-life work issues, that you can’t really pick-up from books.

Growth and development is a constant journey and I’m happy that after seven years of working as a Full-Stack Engineer, I still enjoy it, the same way as in the beginning.

What’s on your bucket list for this year?

At work, I want to get to know Nuxt and Vue better, since last year I worked mainly with React.

I also have a couple of personal goals: I’m writing my own computer game with my own pixel graphics to make a dream from childhood come true, and I want to paint my first acrylic painting and master watercolours!

If you could give one piece of advice to someone joining iTech, what would it be?

Don’t be afraid, stay honest and don’t pretend. You’ll get a lot of support and a great environment to grow!

What’s your best memory from your time at iTech?

It’s got to be the first visit to our London office after the pandemic. I finally had the opportunity to meet everyone I’d spent time with on calls. During lockdowns we had online socials, played video games together, and talked every day. We felt like we knew each other, but we’d never met in person. Seeing them live for the first time was quite unique!

And finally — what is your go-to karaoke anthem?

Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler. I always go for it and do quite an embarrassing show!

If you’re curious about Engineering at iTech, you can check out our careers site here.