“My favourite part of working at Amdaris is the freedom. We are all allowed to choose the projects we work on and which areas we want to develop our knowledge in.”
Welcome to the second edition of our ‘Future Leaders Spotlight Blog Series’, where we go behind the scenes and interview talented Amdarians, from interns to mentors. This series aims to uncover their training and development journey, day-to-day experience of working at Amdaris, and the story behind their passion for software development and technology.
This week we’re speaking with Cristian Voroneanu, an Associate Software Developer in our Moldovan office. Cristian is currently completing his final year of university at the Technical University of Moldova. Having originally joined the company through our internship program, Cristian has been working at Amdaris for the past 7 months alongside his studies.
In this blog, Cristian dives into how online gaming sparked his interest in software development and how he uses the knowledge he has gained at Amdaris to help with his university studies. He also expands on how the internship at Amdaris helped him develop useful skills in order to gain confidence in his software development skills.
What generated your interest in software development?
My interest in software development began when I was about fifteen. I was fascinated by online gaming. There was a particular online game that was an open source, which means that everybody could build on it or start a server. So, I started implementing my ideas and spent many nights working on that server, which I really enjoyed.
My interest in software development grew with each implementation I worked on. The harder the programme was, the more interested and motivated I was to find a solution for it.
What made you interested in the Amdaris internship?
I found out about the Amdaris internship back when I was in my first year at the Technical University of Moldova. One of my friends from university applied and told me how much he was enjoying the internship, so I was very interested in applying as well.
But back then, I wasn’t very confident in my skills and I was insecure about my programming abilities. So it wasn’t until three years later, in my final year of university, that I started to properly consider applying for an internship. I was also looking at internships with other companies at the time, but my friend’s recommendation persuaded me to choose Amdaris.
How have you overcome the insecurities about your software development knowledge?
All my life, I have considered myself to be a perfectionist because I continuously strive to do my best in all areas. I get nervous when I start something new, like starting a new job or playing a new sport. I set high standards for myself, which makes me work much harder.
But now I’ve learnt that it’s okay to make mistakes. We worked a lot on that during my internship to overcome these insecurities and it really helped.
Have you picked up any skills, working at Amdaris, that help with your studies?
I passed my internship with Amdaris back in October and since then I have been working here full-time, alongside university. It all lines up very well.
I’ve learnt a lot of new skills these last seven months. We have a final project during each semester of university, so I’ve been implementing the projects I have been working on at Amdaris into these. I’ve used the experience and knowledge gained at Amdaris a lot in my studies, which have helped me improve my university work.
What is your favourite part about working at Amdaris?
My favourite part of working at Amdaris is the freedom. We are all allowed to choose the projects we work on, what career paths we want to take, and which areas we want to develop our knowledge in. And of course, all the comforts that working in the office provides us with!
How has Amdaris supported you with developing your programming skills?
I received lots of support during my internship at Amdaris, especially during the early stages. We were always offered a personal mentor to help guide us and build our professional skills.
Having a mentor helped enormously as it allowed me to develop my knowledge much faster, as I was able to ask her questions about what I was working on. At the beginning, I was very shy and embarrassed that I had to ask my mentor all these questions. But by doing this, I found out more about Amdaris’s culture, which is very supportive and promotes the idea that you shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions.
The project that I was assigned to, during my internship, was very challenging but in a good way, so this pushed me and was fantastic for my career progression.
Do you have an example of any of the projects you’ve worked on?
I’m currently working on a music library at the moment, for nkoda. This project allows me to work on both the front end and the back end of the development, which is very useful for building my knowledge and skills.
What advice can you give to young people who are interested in software development, but may be a little insecure, like how you used to be?
Don’t be afraid of failure. It’s very important that after each failure, you don’t let your head drop. You must use it as a reason to fill in the gaps of your knowledge.
Secondly, I would say that you must actively try to overcome all challenges you’re faced with. Don’t just sit around and wait for the problem to solve itself.
Always be open to learning new things and developing your IT knowledge.
Finally, not being afraid of asking questions is really important.
What’s next for you in your career?
I’m currently in my fourth year of university, so my plan now is to focus on finishing my studies. But after that, I would like to find a mentor at Amdaris, to help me fill in the gaps in my knowledge. I’d also love to get involved in some computer science projects at the company.