Can you tell us who you are and what your role is at Compono?
Howdy, I'm Lyn and I'm a Senior Full Stack Software Developer at Compono and based in Sydney.
What were you doing before you joined Compono?
I was based in Canada and working at one of the largest real estate tech companies in North America. My partner and I had moved there to see if it was a viable ‘forever place’. After 18 months - with lots of hikes, ice-hockey games, and poutine (plus one corgi puppy later) - we decided to head back home to Australia.
What attracted you to Compono?
In a previous role at an agency, I had actually worked on the first prototype of Compono’s product Shortlyster (which is now known as Intelligent Hiring). When I was heading back from Canada I asked a friend who was at Compono what it was like to work there, and from what they told me I decided I wanted to join the team. It also helped that a lot of the people from the original agency where I had worked on Shortlyster were also now at Compono.
What have been the highlights of working at Compono?
There have been a number of highlights for me in this role. The biggest I’d say has been working with people who are always happy to help. Not only does it make collaborating and working towards goals much easier, it’s also great for growing and learning because we feel safe to make mistakes and learn from them - as well as improving processes for everyone as we go along. We have great people on our team!
Being able to work from home is also something I really value, I like the balance of having a great role, and also being able to take my dog out for walks during the day - and of course cutting the commute time. In terms of the actual work, I truly believe we’re building a great product and the quality of the code is top notch.
I guess a final highlight that I’d ‘highlight’ is being part of the journey we’re on. Before Compono I had only worked in early stage startups and large, established companies. Being at Compono has enabled me to see a startup make the transition to scaleup and there are lots of opportunities ahead for the company. It's been great to see the evolution of the company as we enter this next phase of growth.
What has been the biggest challenge in your work?
Keeping track of everything happening in programming - it can be really easy to forget why we made decisions and knowing what side effects may arise from these.
Why would you recommend Compono to other prospective software developers?
Compono has a great team culture and everyone is happy to help and share their knowledge. There is also a great work-life balance - we already had the option of working remotely before the pandemic so we were really well equipped when it happened. I hope we can continue to pioneer great workplace practices.
Describe a typical day for you at Compono?
I start my day with a team stand up, talk about any potential things blocking progress, and get to work on features or bugs that are the highest priority. I may have a catchup or two with my teammates as there are quite a few new people and I am happy to show them the relevant spaces and changes they need to work on.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I absolutely love creative visual work - I took a long break from it but recently got back into digital illustration, and have been reading about a lot of other forms like music and video editing.
What’s ahead for you?
On the work front we’re transitioning our stack into serverless and working with single table dynamodb data modeling which is really exciting.
In my personal life … I think I speak for a lot of people when I say I’m so relieved to be on the other side of the pandemic and lockdowns. This pandemic definitely did not affect me as badly as it did others, but there were a few holidays overseas we planned that got canceled - particularly Japan and New Zealand - that are definitely still on the list!
