Hi Bani, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I am Bani and I’m a front end developer at Digital Goodie. I’ve been here for about two years now and work in the web team. I speak Finnish, English and Persian. I’ve lived in Finland since 2002. Altogether I’ve lived in five different countries: Finland, Canada, Ireland Turkey and Iran, working and studying.
Bani works in Digital Goodie’s web team as a front-end developer.
What have you studied?
I studied media engineering in Metropolia, I graduated in 2016. The studies include anything media related: photography, videography, printing, and programming. I especially liked the international atmosphere of the school and the programming part – before that, I hadn’t had any experience at all in programming.
How did you end up at Goodie and what do you do here?
Before Goodie, I had already gained some programming experience working in a company that develops an e-learning platform. I happened to have a friend who worked at Digital Goodie, so that’s how I heard about the company and decided to apply. Right now I’m working on our admin panel, as well as in two large customer projects. We’re currently improving the front end of our admin panel. Whatever you can physically see on the page, is front-end. Our job is to display the data in a nice way. In front end, you have to pay a lot of attention to detail. Our job is well done when a user can instantly start using the product and can easily interact with the product.
What is the best thing about your job?
The best thing about my work are my colleagues, definitely. I feel like we’re friends, we get along really well and everyone can be themselves. They’re very supportive.
“Whether you’re introverted or extroverted doesn’t matter, there are many type of people working here”, states Bani
What kind of qualities do you find useful working at Digital Goodie?
You have to be highly independent, a self-starter. You need to be active and not afraid to ask for help. You need to be willing to develop yourself. Whether you’re introverted or extroverted doesn’t matter, there are many type of people working here.
What have you learned at this job?
When I started here I was a junior developer and during my time here I’ve learned a great deal. I’ve gained a lot of confidence, I’ve learned a lot of agile processes and frameworks, and I also think I work better in a team now.
What does your normal work day look like?
If I’m working for a customer, I’m pretty much working independently. I come to the office in the morning, and the first thing to do is checking my emails and Slack to see if I’m needed somewhere in particular, if not, I’ll just pick up where I left the day before. We then have a “daily” at 10.40.
Daily is a 10-minute session among the squad where we touch base on how our projects are proceeding. We plan our day and talk about how and when we’re going to do things and if someone needs help, they have a chance to ask. After that it is most often a normal day of programming, paused by occasional coffee breaks. Right now there is an official abs challenge going on in the office which offers a healthy 2-minute break away from the screen. We usually go out for lunch with my colleagues as well. There are a lot of nice restaurants in the neighbourhood: at the moment my favourites are Onda and Bean There.
How would your co-workers describe you?
I really can’t tell, this is a very hard question!
Okay, so let’s hear it from them. This is what Bani’s team had to say:
“Bani is a hell of a joy to work with. She is nice to work with because she approaches every problem in a humble way and asks the right questions. And all that while keeping a smile and good humour no matter how tough the problem you throw at her. After all, her contagious laughter is known across the whole office!”
“Bani came to DG as a junior and has been growing as a developer and as a person incredibly. This is something that oneself cannot realise, but I can tell for the way she confronts problems, from those struggles she has come out wiser and stronger.”
“Bani has a strong voice as a work colleague and that voice keeps getting stronger and louder on the technical side. She is well on her way to seniority. But don’t tell her ;)”
“Bani is extremely witty and just a blast to hang out with. She makes for the best lunch company.”
What are you interested in life? What do you like to do on your free time?
I like hanging out with my friends, some of them are actually my co-workers from Goodie. We for example go to the gym together. Photography is one of my big passions, that is something I might go back to someday. We did a lot of photography and videography at school which I enjoyed a lot. I enjoy good food and cooking. I really like poetry, Persian poetry in particular. I would like to read more but finding Persian literature offline is challenging. My mom has a lot so I sometimes borrow from her.
Hanging out with office dog Lily
This final question comes from Lauri who we interviewed before: If you were to choose any location to go work abroad, where would you go?
I’d go to Berlin. I really like the city, I like the atmosphere – everyone’s relaxed, it’s vibrant, there’s a lot to see and do.
What would you like to ask from the next person interviewed?
“If you could learn anything, one thing, what would it be?”
Thank you for the interview, Bani!
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