Our teammate Vera has been with us for 6 years which makes her a seasoned Polar Caper. Her experience of over 10 years in the IT industry and over 6 years as a .Net Developer make her a very important piece of our little community. Her project roles have covered various aspects, from architecture design, requirement specifications, time estimating, development, deployment, customer communication to support. She is also a dedicated Consultant Manager who is cherished by her teammates and has been an integral part of spreading the knowledge through our internal Agile training sessions for employees.
1. What made you want to work at Polar Cape?
Six years ago I decided it was time for a change and Polar Cape was a very natural decision because I liked the PC culture. I knew it as a respectful and well-known company, famous for their fun kick-off events 😊
2. What is your favourite thing about working here?
For the past 6 years I’ve always wanted to come to work. I’ve never thought to myself: “It’s Monday tomorrow, I need to go to work,” but instead it’s always been: “Monday, how exciting to be back”.
One of my favourite things about Polar Cape is the flat hierarchy. Although we have Managers, Team Leads, and other senior management, I have never felt that my world is worth less just because of the role.
3. Tell us more about being an IT Consultant. What does it mean to you personally?
There is a clear difference between being a developer and a consultant. When you’re a consultant you have the added opportunity to be creative, support the client’s technical needs and maximise the value of the product that you’re building.
4. Have you always been in the same position, or has your role evolved over the years? If yes, how have you grown?
This is the main value that Polar Cape has given me. You are given space to grow over time, to evolve and make yourself better. If you don’t know how to do it on your own, you receive tools and processes in order to succeed in that.
I came to Polar Cape as a regular .Net backend developer. At that time I did not want to be involved in the processes and internal activities. Being a part of the culture, over time I became part of a team, team lead of projects, .NET Forum Coordinator. I realised that this was one of the benefits of being a Polar Caper. You get an opportunity to do a lot of different things and grow professionally and even change your tech stack.
5. Do you have any unique problem-solving process that really makes an impact for our clients?
Yes, I believe I do:
- Ask questions when you have doubts and uncertainties.
- Always involve the team. Team effort is best for cracking the most difficult problems and issues.
- There is always a solution to a problem, try different ideas even if they are crazy.
- If you are stuck on a problem and you are stuck in the problem, it helps a lot to sleep on it. Take a break or do anything else, so you can recenter and come back fresh. 90 percent of my problems have been solved in this manner.
6. What industries have you worked in? Any part of your experience you feel is relevant to share with our network?
Most of my career has accidentally been centred around the healthcare industry. Now I really see it as one of my assets when I enter a new project in this industry. I am already familiar with most of the industry requirements, I know the tools, terminology, processes, and standards.
7. What do you like doing in your spare time?
I love spending time with my family, watching Netflix, cooking etc. One of my passions involves finding those really good and rare second-hand clothing shops, since I believe fast fashion truly contributes to environmental and other issues. I also like finding interesting creative activities for children online, that I can then enjoy doing with my kids.
