From kitchens to keyboards, an insight into my first 60 days as a junior dev at one of the best construction-tech companies in Australia.
The team at Getter don’t muck around. What started as a LinkedIn message turned into a sit down at a cafe with Jamie the CTO and Aaron one of the founders to a video meeting where I was offered a role as their newest Junior Developer. This all happened in the space of a weekend, with an informal coding challenge and thankfully no multiple rounds of formal interviews. They hired me because I was me and I don’t know many people who can say that. I think that’s awesome.
Starting any new job is already hard enough, but starting a new job in an industry you have never worked in and have no idea what to expect? Terrifying.
First-day jitters were real, but they were soon put to rest when the team arrived. Everyone was nice, I can not tell you that I have ever been in a workplace where this has happened. I was handed a new m1 MacBook, given the tour, shown my desk and spent the day setting up, downloading code, got to know the other members of the team and was given a stack of sweet merch.
The cool thing about Getter is they have an Onboarding Challenge, a checklist that challenges you to do varying things within your first 2 weeks. These tasks would give a new person a complete overview of how the business ran and how each part fits together. At the top of the list was getting out there on the road.
I was paired up with one of the Getters to hit the street and deliver products to job sites. It was a great day, I was able to see first-hand how the product I had been hired to help build worked, in the flesh. I was able to talk to tradies to get any feedback or improvements they had for our product. This experience is similar to being sent into the dining room at a new restaurant and fed by the chef, you see the standard they want to set and it motivates you to be great.
There was also a sit-down with the CEO and the CFO, Tom and Aaron. You would assume that this would be intimidating, sitting down with the big bosses to talk about your job and their company, but it was the complete opposite. I’m convinced if they were any more laid back they would forget to breathe and fall off their chairs. That is how relaxed these blokes are. It was an eye-opening experience, considering I was familiar with hot-headed chefs. They spent a good amount of time and effort asking me how I was, and what excited me and encouraged me to ask questions at any stage.
Within a week I felt like I was part of the team, that's a pretty damn-cool feeling and something I wasn’t used to in such a short time.
With the challenge done, it was time to get into the thick of it. Getter doesn't settle for average, instead, they strive for excellence over perfection, this was especially true for the tech stack they use. React, GraphQL, AWS CDK/Lambda and Prisma, the truffle, caviar, champagne and wagyu beef of the tech world. I couldn't believe I scored a job with the Rolls Royce of technology stacks - I can see myself being one hell of a developer.
The only problem was I had only briefly worked with one of the technologies, but as it turned out, it wasn’t a problem at all. The engineering team took me under their wing, shared all their knowledge, answered all my questions and helped me when I was veering off course.
The support I have received at Getter has been amazing. Developers would sit with me and together we solved problems, they shared in the excitement of problem-solving and nothing was too much when I needed help. I have been continually encouraged to ask questions if I am unsure and to never be afraid to. This attitude and mantra have helped me develop my engineering skills 10-fold and given me confidence in my own abilities.
Being in this kind of environment makes every cent I spent and all the time it took to make a career change well worth it.
Apart from awesome tech and a great team, Getter also has an awesome culture. Engineers down the tools, and hit the local joints for a meal (and a cheeky beer). With my experience as a chef in my past life, I've been running the Friday Fry Up once a fortnight where all of the team are encouraged to meet at the office for a BBQ where we can unwind, tell war stories and get to know each other for the afternoon.
These last 60 days have been a whirlwind, I have gone from a fresh-out-of-bootcamp junior programmer to a more confident, capable programmer. I have made real changes to a production website, giving me the same tingly feeling that I got when I would create a new dish on a menu and see a customer smile after their first bite. Now I'm a developer, a member of an amazing team and helping make a difference in people's lives every day.
It’s safe to say I will never have to worry about where the lamb sauce is ever again.