He is a Software Engineer at Shock Media, always cheerful, and his table tennis serve is unmatched. With us, he is better known as JJ; in this blog I would like to introduce you to… Jaap-Jan!
Can you tell us something about yourself?
I’m Jaap-Jan, 36 years old, and I’ve been working at Shock Media as a Software Engineer for 8 years now. I’m originally from Hoogeveen, but I moved to Almelo for work.
How did you end up at Shock Media 8 years ago?
I had just left my previous employer and was approached by Shock Media. When I came in for an interview, it immediately felt right. The atmosphere was really enjoyable.
I studied Technical Computer Science, which is actually a bit different from the work I do now. I already had experience with Linux, but virtualization, for example, was completely new to me. Fortunately, Shock Media gave me the chance to delve deeper into that.
What exactly does your role involve?
So, I’m a software developer at Shock Media. Besides programming, I’m also involved in design and research. One moment I’m programming in Java, the next I’m developing on the front-end with Angular. It’s very diverse.
What does a day at Shock Media look like for Jaap-Jan?
Of course, the day starts with a cup of coffee. Then we kick off with a stand-up with the development team. We briefly discuss what we did yesterday, if we ran into any issues, and what we plan to do today. That’s part of the development methodology we use. After that, I get on with what I was working on or check if there are any new issues I can pick up. We work really well as a team. If you run into something, you can always ask someone for help.
Where does your passion for IT come from?
Actually, I’ve been into programming since I was young. I used to type out code from books. That’s how I made my own games. Instead of installing them, I rebuilt them. When I started studying, I first chose a different direction, but eventually computer science drew me back in.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
What I enjoy most is constantly creating new things that our system administrators and customers actually use. For example, we developed our own package to manage Cloud Servers. That’s very challenging and fun to do. For me, the question isn’t why I go home satisfied at the end of the day, but why I’m excited to get started again every single day!
And what was the most fun team outing?
Shock Media’s 20th anniversary. We all went for a weekend to Germany. First, we visited Moviepark Germany and then went out in Oberhausen in the evening. That was a big party. We’ve also gone to Preston Palace a few times. That was a lot of fun, too.
Shock Media is looking for developers; how could they support your team?
The team we work with now is very strong in back-end. That’s where we all focus. So it would be great if we could add someone to the team who can build a good UI. We can all do it, but really someone should be dedicated to that. In addition, this developer will join a fun company with great colleagues. That’s also why I love working here; the atmosphere is really nice.
Are you already convinced that Shock Media is the company for you? Then apply for one of our open vacancies! Still unsure or curious about the stories of our other colleagues? Then read our other blogs.
