Zain Fathoni Software Engineer at HOW WORKING IN IT LOOKS LIKE

HOW WORKING IN IT LOOKS LIKE OUTLINE ▸ Introduction ▸ Working Experience ▸ Walkthrough ▸ Lessons Learned ▸ Career Opportunities in IT Industry ▸ Core Skills ▸ What’s Next?

INTRODUCTION https://www.linkedin.com/in/zainfathoni/

WALKTHROUGH WORKING EXPERIENCE

WORKING EXPERIENCE | WALKTHROUGH 2008 Teknik Informatika ITB Undergraduate Student

WORKING EXPERIENCE | WALKTHROUGH 2008 2013 Qiwary Usaha Nusantara Programmer Teknik Informatika ITB Undergraduate Student

WORKING EXPERIENCE | WALKTHROUGH 2008 2013 Qiwary Usaha Nusantara Programmer Teknik Informatika ITB Undergraduate Student 2014 Graduated from ITB Bachelor Degree

WORKING EXPERIENCE | WALKTHROUGH 2008 2013 Qiwary Usaha Nusantara Programmer Teknik Informatika ITB Undergraduate Student 2014 Graduated from ITB Bachelor Degree 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Developer

WORKING EXPERIENCE | WALKTHROUGH 2008 2013 Qiwary Usaha Nusantara Programmer Teknik Informatika ITB Undergraduate Student 2014 Graduated from ITB Bachelor Degree 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Developer 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Development Manager

WORKING EXPERIENCE | WALKTHROUGH 2008 2013 Qiwary Usaha Nusantara Programmer Teknik Informatika ITB Undergraduate Student 2014 Graduated from ITB Bachelor Degree 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Developer 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Development Manager 2017 Bukalapak Software Engineer Future

LESSONS LEARNED WORKING EXPERIENCE

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2008 Teknik Informatika ITB Undergraduate Student

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2008 Teknik Informatika ITB Undergraduate Student ▸ Teknik Informatika (IF) vs
 Sistem & Teknologi Informasi (STI) ▸ IF ➜ Low-Level Staffs ▸ STI ➜ High-Level Bosses

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2008 Teknik Informatika ITB Undergraduate Student ▸ Teknik Informatika (IF) vs
 Sistem & Teknologi Informasi (STI) ▸ IF ➜ Low-Level Staffs ▸ STI ➜ High-Level Bosses ▸ I thought I should have chosen STI instead of IF ➜ Is it true? We will find out later.

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2008 Teknik Informatika ITB Undergraduate Student ▸ Teknik Informatika (IF) vs
 Sistem & Teknologi Informasi (STI) ▸ IF ➜ Low-Level Staffs ▸ STI ➜ High-Level Bosses ▸ I thought I should have chosen STI instead of IF ➜ Is it true? We will find out later. " Try it first, decide later

“JUST PICK ONE THING TO DO, AND IF THAT DOESN’T WORK, THEN PICK ANOTHER. MAKING A CHOICE AND TRYING IT IS AN IMPORTANT CAREER SKILL.” Penelope Trunk https://www.brazen.com/blog/recruiting-hr/how-to-decide- on-a-career-even-if-you-dont-know-what-you-want/

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2008 2013 Qiwary Usaha Nusantara Programmer Teknik Informatika ITB Undergraduate Student

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2013 Qiwary Usaha Nusantara Programmer ▸ Started to learn practical coding skills ▸ Encountered many technical challenges ▸ Started enjoying coding ▸ Indonesian Government Projects ▸ Tight deadlines ▸ Changing requirements ▸ Spotted some mysterious requirement changes ▸ Get ready for anything

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2013 Qiwary Usaha Nusantara Programmer ▸ Started to learn practical coding skills ▸ Encountered many technical challenges ▸ Started enjoying coding ▸ Indonesian Government Projects ▸ Tight deadlines ▸ Changing requirements ▸ Spotted some mysterious requirement changes

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2013 Qiwary Usaha Nusantara Programmer ▸ Started to learn practical coding skills ▸ Encountered many technical challenges ▸ Started enjoying coding ▸ Indonesian Government Projects ▸ Tight deadlines ▸ Changing requirements ▸ Spotted some mysterious requirement changes " Get ready for anything

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2008 2013 Qiwary Usaha Nusantara Programmer Teknik Informatika ITB Undergraduate Student 2014 Graduated from ITB Bachelor Degree

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2014 Graduated from ITB Bachelor Degree ▸ Started to look for other opportunities

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2014 Graduated from ITB Bachelor Degree ▸ Started to look for other opportunities ▸ Getting some job offers which I rejected

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2014 Graduated from ITB Bachelor Degree ▸ Started to look for other opportunities ▸ Getting some job offers which I rejected ▸ Getting my job applications rejected

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2014 Graduated from ITB Bachelor Degree ▸ Started to look for other opportunities ▸ Getting some job offers which I rejected ▸ Getting my job applications rejected ▸ Finally, I joined Xtremax, a Singaporean software agency

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2014 Graduated from ITB Bachelor Degree ▸ Started to look for other opportunities ▸ Getting some job offers which I rejected ▸ Getting my job applications rejected ▸ Finally, I joined Xtremax, a Singaporean software agency " There are so many opportunities in
 IT industry out there, don’t worry!

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2008 2013 Qiwary Usaha Nusantara Programmer Teknik Informatika ITB Undergraduate Student 2014 Graduated from ITB Bachelor Degree 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Developer

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Developer ▸ Singaporean Government Projects ▸ Higher standards than Indonesian ones ▸ Using Waterfall, but still many requirement changes ▸ Started learning Web Technologies ▸ Backend ➜ aligned with job descriptions ▸ Frontend ➜ self-motivated ▸ Learned that many software development best practices are not implemented yet ▸ Never stop learning

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Developer ▸ Singaporean Government Projects ▸ Higher standards than Indonesian ones ▸ Using Waterfall, but still many requirement changes ▸ Started learning Web Technologies ▸ Backend ➜ aligned with job descriptions ▸ Frontend ➜ self-motivated ▸ Learned that many software development best practices are not implemented yet ▸ Never stop learning

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Developer ▸ Singaporean Government Projects ▸ Higher standards than Indonesian ones ▸ Using Waterfall, but still many requirement changes ▸ Started learning Web Technologies ▸ Backend ➜ aligned with job descriptions ▸ Frontend ➜ self-motivated ▸ Learned that many software development best practices are not implemented yet Never stop learning

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Developer ▸ Singaporean Government Projects ▸ Higher standards than Indonesian ones ▸ Using Waterfall, but still many requirement changes ▸ Started learning Web Technologies ▸ Backend ➜ aligned with job descriptions ▸ Frontend ➜ self-motivated ▸ Learned that many software development best practices are not implemented yet " Never stop learning

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2008 2013 Qiwary Usaha Nusantara Programmer Teknik Informatika ITB Undergraduate Student 2014 Graduated from ITB Bachelor Degree 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Developer 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Development Manager

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Development Manager ▸ Accepted an offer for a managerial position, why not? ▸ I got to be one of the bosses instead of the staffs ➜ I should get an exclusive salary raise ▸ I was not working on certain projects ➜ I could have more time to learn new things for R & D to improve the company’s best practices ▸ Is it true? The facts are: ▸ No salary difference until a few months later ➜ together with fellow non-manager employees ▸ I was not directly working on certain projects, but I was in charge of all projects ➜ no time to learn new things ▸ Manager > Developer

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Development Manager ▸ Accepted an offer for a managerial position, why not? ▸ I got to be one of the bosses instead of the staffs ➜ I should get an exclusive salary raise ▸ I was not working on certain projects ➜ I could have more time to learn new things for R & D to improve the company’s best practices ▸ Is it true? The facts are: ▸ No salary difference until a few months later ➜ together with fellow non-manager employees ▸ I was not directly working on certain projects, but I was in charge of all projects ➜ no time to learn new things ▸ Manager > Developer

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Development Manager ▸ Accepted an offer for a managerial position, why not? ▸ I got to be one of the bosses instead of the staffs ➜ I should get an exclusive salary raise ▸ I was not working on certain projects ➜ I could have more time to learn new things for R & D to improve the company’s best practices ▸ Is it true? The facts are: ▸ No salary difference until a few months later ➜ together with fellow non-manager employees ▸ I was not directly working on certain projects, but I was in charge of all projects ➜ no time to learn new things ▸ Manager > Developer

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Development Manager ▸ Accepted an offer for a managerial position, why not? ▸ I got to be one of the bosses instead of the staffs ➜ I should get an exclusive salary raise ▸ I was not working on certain projects ➜ I could have more time to learn new things for R & D to improve the company’s best practices ▸ Is it true? The facts are: ▸ No salary difference until a few months later ➜ together with fellow non-manager employees ▸ I was not directly working on certain projects, but I was in charge of all projects ➜ no time to learn new things ▸ Manager > Developer

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Development Manager ▸ Accepted an offer for a managerial position, why not? ▸ I got to be one of the bosses instead of the staffs ➜ I should get an exclusive salary raise ▸ I was not working on certain projects ➜ I could have more time to learn new things for R & D to improve the company’s best practices ▸ Is it true? The facts are: ▸ No salary difference until a few months later ➜ together with fellow non-manager employees ▸ I was not directly working on certain projects, but I was in charge of all projects ➜ no time to learn new things ▸ Manager > Developer

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Development Manager ▸ Accepted an offer for a managerial position, why not? ▸ I got to be one of the bosses instead of the staffs ➜ I should get an exclusive salary raise ▸ I was not working on certain projects ➜ I could have more time to learn new things for R & D to improve the company’s best practices ▸ Is it true? The facts are: ▸ No salary difference until a few months later ➜ together with fellow non-manager employees ▸ I was not directly working on certain projects, but I was in charge of all projects ➜ no time to learn new things

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Development Manager ▸ Accepted an offer for a managerial position, why not? ▸ I got to be one of the bosses instead of the staffs ➜ I should get an exclusive salary raise ▸ I was not working on certain projects ➜ I could have more time to learn new things for R & D to improve the company’s best practices ▸ Is it true? The facts are: ▸ No salary difference until a few months later ➜ together with fellow non-manager employees ▸ I was not directly working on certain projects, but I was in charge of all projects ➜ no time to learn new things " Manager > Developer

I THINK MANAGERIAL CAREER PATH IS NOT MY THING. I LOVED BEING A DEVELOPER MORE THAN BEING A MANAGER. Zain Fathoni SELF-REFLECTION

THEN I RESIGNED *Of course after finding a new job, I still have a family to be fed. % And that new job is ……

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2008 2013 Qiwary Usaha Nusantara Programmer Teknik Informatika ITB Undergraduate Student 2014 Graduated from ITB Bachelor Degree 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Developer 2015 Xtremax Indonesia Software Development Manager 2017 Bukalapak Software Engineer Future

Untuk mendapatkan talenta terbaik, Bukalapak membuka lowongan pekerjaan untuk engineer pada tahun lalu. Dari 10 ribu yang mengajukan, akhirnya hanya diterima 30 orang saja. DailySocial.id TEXT https://dailysocial.id/post/mengintip-dapur-teknologi-bukalapak

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2017 Bukalapak Software Engineer ▸ After more than a year (from late 2015 to early 2017) being a manager, how did I stay sharp to pass the coding tests? Never stop learning ▸ While being a manager, I tried to allocate my spare time to learn new technical things by: ▸ Reading articles ▸ Following online courses ▸ Developing https://ojekbelanja.id as an open source project ▸ https://github.com/zainfathoni/ojekbelanja

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2017 Bukalapak Software Engineer ▸ After more than a year (from late 2015 to early 2017) being a manager, how did I stay sharp to pass the coding tests? " Never stop learning ▸ While being a manager, I tried to allocate my spare time to learn new technical things by: ▸ Reading articles ▸ Following online courses ▸ Developing https://ojekbelanja.id as an open source project ▸ https://github.com/zainfathoni/ojekbelanja

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2017 Bukalapak Software Engineer ▸ After more than a year (from late 2015 to early 2017) being a manager, how did I stay sharp to pass the coding tests? " Never stop learning ▸ While being a manager, I tried to allocate my spare time to learn new technical things by: ▸ Reading articles ▸ Following online courses ▸ Developing https://ojekbelanja.id as an open source project ▸ https://github.com/zainfathoni/ojekbelanja

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2017 Bukalapak Software Engineer ▸ Get back to be a developer, with a higher salary than the previous one while I was a manager. ▸ It turns out that in Bukalapak this lesson is still relevant " Manager > Engineer ▸ Recently, one of my college friends just joined Bukalapak for a managerial position, and the Bukalapak Vice President of Engineering told me this,

Oh iya, di kita manager selevel sama engineer, jadi bukan berarti kalau manager dia jadi golongan di atas engineer, hehe. Ibrahim Arief, VP of Engineering at Bukalapak MANAGER VS ENGINEER

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2017 Bukalapak Software Engineer ▸ Moral of the story: " Do what you love and what you’re good at, not what people think is good ▸ Then, what are the options in the IT industry? ▸ Company Types ▸ Career Opportunities

WORKING EXPERIENCE | LESSONS LEARNED 2017 Bukalapak Software Engineer ▸ Moral of the story: " Do what you love and what you’re good at, not what people think is good ▸ Then, what are the options in the IT industry? ▸ Company Types ▸ Career Opportunities

LESSONS LEARNED | COMPANY TYPES (Most of) Service-Based Company (Most of) Product-Based Company Waterfall Agile Deadlines are determined by
 external parties (clients) Milestones are defined by
 internal parties (stakeholders) Working rhythm is relatively tight Working rhythm is relatively loose Working hour is relatively strict, due to external communication with clients Working hour is relatively flexible, due to internal communication with stakeholders Seldom but big deployments, more bugs expected on production Rapid but small deployments, less bugs expected on production " Requirement changes always happen,
 but different companies handle them differently

LESSONS LEARNED | CAREER OPPORTUNITIES Technical Career Path Non-Technical Career Path Software Engineer
 (Backend, Frontend Web, Mobile Apps) Project/Product Manager System Engineer (DevOps, Database Admin) System Analyst Designer (User Interface, User Experience) Business Analyst Quality Assurance Engineer Quality Assurance Tester Technical Support Account Executive etc. etc. " Whether you love coding or not,
 there are many career opportunities for you Find more in https://careers.bukalapak.com

DIVERSITY & WORK-LIFE BALANCE IN BUKALAPAK & Bukalapak fully supports female tech talents
 and encourages work-life balance In fact, one of our Engineering Squad Lead is now full-time remotely working from home after the birth of her first child. When she was pregnant, she intended to resign from Bukalapak because of her far commuting distance (Depok—Kemang) and nobody to take care of her child at home if she and her husband are working outside. Then we offered her to work from home full-time remotely, with the high- speed internet bills on us. In Bukalapak, female talents don’t have to choose between family and career, because we will support both of them if necessary.

COLLEGE DEGREE ' Does college degree matter? At some point, yes. You need to have proper amount of knowledge to be able to pursue a career in IT. You can acquire that knowledge in college. However, the title itself doesn’t really matter. Because most of IT companies appreciate your skills over your title. In fact, not all my colleagues in Xtremax and Bukalapak are Informatics graduates. Even some of them dropped out from their college, but they’re able to prove that they’re skillful enough to be employed. Zain Fathoni

SPECIFIC SKILLS Technical Career Path Specific Skills Needed Software Engineer
 (Backend, Frontend Web, Mobile Apps) Basic programming, computer architecture, web technologies, mobile apps technologies. System Engineer (DevOps, Database Admin) Software infrastructure, computer networking, database administration. Designer (User Interface, User Experience) Design, layout, colors, software usability & accessibility. Quality Assurance Engineer Test scripting, unit testing, functional testing, integration testing. Technical Support Generic computer knowledge, product knowledge. " Pick one career path, then focus on it,
 master the skills needed

CORE SKILLS " Whichever path you choose these core skills are mandatory for any position in IT industry ▸ Certain level of technical knowledge in the field ▸ In team work, good communication skill is mandatory ▸ https://slack.engineering/technical-leadership-getting-started-e5161b1bf85c ▸ https://charity.wtf/2017/05/11/the-engineer-manager-pendulum/amp/

THANK YOU Any Questions? t.me/zainfathoni