Career Takeoff — Interview with Software Engineer Hugo Maitre

Teads welcome young talents. We believe in learning by doing, and think real-world experience is a unique opportunity to build valuable knowledge. Under the guidance of a mentor, interns at Teads embed within a team and are assigned a project that fits within their internship.

In this third article of our interview series, we ask Hugo about his journey to Teads and what he loves about working here.

What was your journey to Teads?

During my engineering studies in Montpellier, we had the opportunity to present one of our school projects in Teads’ office and discuss it with the team.

I was able to visit the premises and immediately got hooked on the atmosphere surrounding the company. I then made a spontaneous application that led me to an interview where I was able to discuss and learn about Teads’ areas of action. I loved it.

After completing a technical test, I succeeded in obtaining the internship. During the process, I had the opportunity to have lunch and get to know the team to which I was assigned, the Publishers team, a few weeks before starting. This was the beginning of this new adventure.

What do you do at Teads?

“My internship project mainly focuses on an API Token Management service, used to give partners and clients access to the Teads Platform so that they can recover their data.”

I was able to integrate this service into the latest applications based on the latest technologies used by the company. It’s a full-stack application combining Scala and React among other things.

I am well supported but autonomous at the same time which allows me to learn a lot from both technical and management points of view. The application is now ready and I am proud of the result.

What does a typical day look like?

On a typical day, I first come say hello to the people present in the open space while I get a glass of milk or squeeze a few oranges. We have a standup meeting with the whole team in the morning to share progress, work to be done and then everyone returns to their activities. Then comes lunch. Between food-trucks and nearby restaurants, it is difficult to choose!

Back to work, good mood, music to concentrate and frequent jokes or discussions make the work atmosphere very pleasant. Coffee and some fruits are always welcome in the afternoon between several releases or code reviews.

“Precious time is spent on code reviews. One or more people can add comments on the code and every change in the codebase has to be approved by someone from the team.”

With this workflow, I progressed a lot and I am happy to help others in return.

What do you like the most about working at Teads?

100%, the people working here. I have never been accepted that quickly in a team before.

“Teads puts the people first. This is why I like working here. The company wants us to feel great and I can say it’s a success.”

In terms of learning, Teads is, I think, one of the most up-to-date companies from a technical point of view. I learn a lot, whether it is about languages or continuous integration or cloud computing and hosting. It’s a place full of innovation leading to using the best technologies.

How would you describe the Teads culture and what it means to you?

As I said, people first. Open-minded, there is no hierarchy that you can see with plain eyes when you arrive at Teads. Everyone works on the same tables, in the same open spaces. The Teads culture is like feeling at home with colleagues that could be your friends, with the professional touch.

As soon as you onboard, you’ll feel at home. I feel like we are together to build something big.

After his internship, Hugo joined us as a full-time employee in Montpellier. Looking for great tech challenges? Check out our open positions here.