Developing software and good VIBES

“You can’t Google it. And if you do, you get an article written by our CTO Seijs” 🙂

A meet up with our developers Stathis and Jelle
Efstathios (in our team known as Stathis) and Jelle both work at VIBES as Software Engineers R&D, i.e. Software Developers, respectively since August 2021 and December 2021.
For non-developers and even for developers outside of VIBES, their jobs can be a bit mysterious. Software users experience great software, but what preceded that exactly? Therefore we asked Stathis and Jelle about their jobs and they are happy to tell you more about it….

The obvious question: What do you do as a developer at VIBES?
In the development team at VIBES, we are responsible for developing applications that are used by our clients in the automotive and high tech industry. All together, VIBES has four products: DIRAC, SOURCE, COUPLE and the VIBES Toolbox for MATLAB. Our devteam focusses on the three main products: DIRAC, SOURCE and COUPLE. Each of the software products of VIBES has its own logic and challenges. Although all developers at VIBES can handle tasks on all three main products, the newest members of the team tend to specialize on one of them. Our day to day work is a mix of front-end and back-end development, while also trying to grasp the domain itself. Actually, our CTO Maarten van der Seijs is one of the experts in this domain, so a part of our job involves trying to uncover all the knowledge that resides in his brain 😊.

Sounds challenging…
It is, especially in the beginning. You definitely have to have a thirst for learning to be able to work here at VIBES. However, once you wrap your head around the basics, from then on you really feel that you belong in an environment with zero stagnation.

That’s an inspiring bigger picture! But what does your daily work at VIBES look like?
Every morning we have a stand-up meeting (honoring its short length): Just quickly synchronize as a team, catching up on our tasks and see how we can help each other that day. The rest of the day we spend working on our own tickets, reviewing someone else’s work, or having discussions on bigger topics.
We work in sprints of 2 weeks. This means that every two weeks, we review the finished sprint, look forward to our plans for the coming sprint, and discuss some important tickets that are coming up. This helps us to keep communicating and prevents each of us from ending up on our own little islands, working on the same topic forever.
We work full agile on Jira and we can proudly say that all tickets are excellently defined. Every ticket is a subject of review before completed, which is done by a colleague.

Tell us more about those colleagues please…
And here we get to the best part in working at VIBES; the team. Zero judgement between us, everyone can take jokes like a champ and there are no arguments. There is just a great positive atmosphere in the team, where we all feel free to be ourselves and feel good in doing our work. It really feels like being part of a team, where we try to make great products together and learn from each other in the process.

Of course there are differences in opinions, it’s part of the job, but they are handled like the textbook interview answer that one gives to the question “How would you react if you disagreed with your colleague on a technical detail?”. No one has a problem admitting that they are wrong or that their solution may have alternatives, which just makes everything so much easier. Everyone is willing to help and there is zero micromanagement on any level. I love the way that we operate when time is pressing and we have a deadline that we have to meet, because although there is urgency, there is also an underline calmness in everything. No hysteria and despair, just productivity. Stathis: “I know it sounds like I am painting the perfect picture, but this is how I experience working here.”

Good VIBES overall
So, not only do Stathis and Jelle rewardingly create great software for VIBES customers, they also enjoy the experience of working at VIBES. Do you also like moving forward, learning new things, working in a fun work environment and developing software for cool customers? Don’t hesitate to contact us! We are growing and hiring, as there are more interesting projects and (software) developments to come. If adding your vibe to this appeals to you, then get in touch!