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Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a Developer? Then this story is for you.

Sachith Lakmal, an Associate Tech Lead at JIT, shares his experience giving us a walkthrough into his life in this role, to get to know a little bit what it’s like to be a software developer.

Here’s what Sachith Shared with us.

Why did you want to become a developer?

This was my ambition since I was a kid. When my friends wanted to become Doctors and engineers, I always wanted to be a Software engineer. I pride myself on having design-, conceptual- and software-skills.

What skills do you need to have as a developer?

This vary from which type of developer you want to be. As an example, if you want to be a Web developer, you need to know the related web technologies. If you want to be a mobile application developer there are other technologies you need to learn.

Nowadays companies don’t just recruit backend developers, front end developers etc. The trend is full-stack developer who knows programming languages, databases, testing etc. Like an all-rounder.

Can you describe a typical day in the office?

My job is to make sure the live application runs smooth as possible. In order to do that, we monitor the live system and if having any load problems during peak hours. If any issue, we have to act immediately to solve the issue.

Apart from that we have to fix bugs reported in live environment and we do new feature developments. This is what keeps me going every day and which I love to do.

What’s the best thing about your job?

For me the best thing about the job is that I get to solve challenging issues. For most issues we get solutions from internet. There are some issues which we research in depth in order to resolve the issue. That’s what make me a better developer every day.

What is your advice to freshers who is eager to experience developing?

Technology is changing every day, so we need to learn lot of things. However, rather than leaning all the things at once, freshers should focus on learning a primary programming langue up to a certain level. I have seen most developers they learn lot of languages and tools but only bits and pieces. Once you fully confident with one language, it is easy to move in to either areas easily.

You will find different challenges than in your day-to-day coding and hopefully find yourself totally immersed. Doing something you love as a job can sometimes make you forget why you started in the first place. It’s important to stay in touch with that feeling and your intrinsic motivation.

 

Are you a Software Engineer looking for a new challenge and does Sachith’s story inspire you? Perfect! We have several stories coming up that might be interesting for you! Keep in touch!!

“It was my dream to become a corporate relationship manager and to be an account manager in an IT firm was beyond that. I wanted to pursue this career as consultative selling is a skill I wanted to enhance and it only comes with practice. JIT not only gave me that but also equipped me with the right training for what I needed to perform my job.”

Meet Our Banking Sector, Account Manager…

Our new Team JIT folk Mewan Fernando, joins us after serving solid 6 years as a Banker, who is passionate about account management, consultative selling and solution selling.

Mewan is our Account Manager for the Banking Sector and his colleague, and music partner Kushan (from the HR Team) had a quick Q&A with him, to find out more about what keeps him going. Here what he shared.

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After spending 6 years at HSBC, why did you make a decision to join an IT Company? And Why JIT?

It was my dream to become a corporate relationship manager and to be an account manager in an IT firm and beyond. I wanted to pursue the career of consultative selling, as it’s a skill I wanted to develop. which only comes with hands-on practice.

I lost interest in being a banker some time back, as there was not much room for creativity and strategic thinking for myself. So, this is what got me searching for the right opportunity in the market, which took over a year to find, where I could contribute to an organization while loving what I do. JIT was that stop, which not only gave me the opportunity, but also equipped me with the correct training for what I needed for my growth, and to perform in my job role. The past six months have been the most exciting period of my career, despite the pandemic. The constant support I receive to perform as a newcomer into an IT related to job from a banking background with zero IT knowledge – is just amazing.

What do you think is the most valuable trait an Account Manager should have?
Consultative selling skills would be the most important trait/skill in my book, but, looking at the case studies and veterans in the industry it is fair to claim that it takes more than just one skill. Success in the industry requires a mix of essentials varying from relationship skills, business acumen skills to strategic thinking traits. Most importantly, in my belief, it all boils down to hard work more than talent and it is the attitude at the end of the day that determines our traits.

Being in Sales is not easy. How do you plan and prioritize your work?

I am a big fan of the 5 am club and I usually start my day earlier and it helps me to clear my pending personal work and job-related work. I have a habit of adding tasks on my outlook with reminders based on urgency and importance which has made it easy for me to follow up on work.

Tell us what struck you most about the JIT culture.

I would describe it in three words; friendly, performance-driven, and open. I have dealt with many IT firms during my time as a banker and my perception of the culture of any IT firm was different from what I experience at JIT. It’s a culture of energy and collaboration. My biggest fear was adopting to a local company after working for an international bank and the people at JIT made it easy.

Tell us something you like most to do, which your colleagues are not aware of?

I love cooking, reading books, and watching movies, tv-series, documentaries based on real-life events. I’m passionate about traveling and I also love reading about history, especially medieval Europe, ancient Egypt, and World War 2. I’m also a devoted Star Wars and Lord of the Rings fan.

Apart from what Mewan shared with us in his Q&A, (which he didn’t share) he is an absolutely fabulous singer and guitarist. He has become a permanent member of our Team JIT singing squad. So, here’s wishing Mewan best of luck for a rewarding career with JIT!

 

“I feel JIT has a connected culture where each employee is valued, accepted and everyone has a sense of belonging.  JIT as a company make efforts not only to make employees satisfied but to make them happy. It creates opportunities on regular basis for employees to have fun.

 

 

Meet Ruksala..

A day in the life of a Quality Assurance Engineer isn’t really all too different from that of a software developer. We’re excited to feature, Ruksala Sajeewani Wimalasooriya from our company who has been with us for 4 + years.

Ruksala is a Senior Software Quality Assurance Engineer, who is currently outsourced to a USA based project. During a quick chat with her by our HR team, here’s what she shared with us.

 

Being in the IT industry what challenges do you see for a female?

Maintaining a work/home-life balance is the biggest challenge I see in IT industry because sometimes females also have to work late hours to keep up with the project deadlines. Taking time for self-care or making it home for family dinner, maintaining this balance is sometimes a challenge. But as females we are inherently good at multi-tasking and managing our challenges.

 

Keeping up with the industry trends and learning new skills can also be quite challenging specially in IT industry as it is constantly progressing.

 

How is JIT supporting you to overcome the challenges you shared?

Finishing the work during designated business hours is not possible in IT industry, mostly when multiple project deadlines have a similar end date. In such times every team member works tirelessly towards a common goal, regardless of gender.

This is where JIT empowers us by providing transportation and food allowances when we work late. They also make sure we return home safe at a point when we were working from the client site.! (Currently we are WFH).

 

We are also encouraged to attend various training programs, workshops and tech talks etc., which are organzied and funded by JIT so that we could sharpen our skills and advance our professional career. For Instance, JIT conducted a Toast masters training which I took part in which I enjoyed very much as it was so different from my technical trainings and it improved my public speaking skills tremendously. JIT has always ensured an equal opportunity and supported every employee to reach their potential. The choice is ours to take and make the best of it.

 

Would you like to share your experience in working for a US client?

The first thing that comes to mind, when I talk about the experience with USA client is their cutting-edge tools and technologies. They are fabulously streamlining the business processes including development, testing, customer services and IT security using these tools and technologies. The exposure to the latest technologies we get by this project is tremendous.

As the US Client teams are geographically dispersed worldwide – they follow the benefits of international diversity, bringing together people from many cultures, varied work experiences and different perspectives on strategic and organizational challenges. They also allow flexible hours and work from home options as part of their HR policy, which is a great option for employees and specially who have children, giving a better work life balance experience.

 

How do you plan and prioritize your work?

We all know the ‘go to’ piece of advice to plan and prioritize work is to make a to do list and cross off the items when they are done. Even though it sounds lovely in theory, I was never able to stick to the list or complete the list as I always get a bit side tracked with some unplanned but urgent tasks. So, when it comes to planning the day, instead of writing down list of tasks I choose the one task that MUST get done and get this done as this would have the most impact.

 

Simply said, I start with the biggest, hardest and most important task and then move on to the other tasks.

 

How would you describe the JIT culture?

JIT has a connected culture where each employee is valued, accepted and everyone has a sense of belonging – this is what I feel and have experience. JIT as a company make an effort not only to make employees satisfied but to make them happy. This creates occasions on regular basis for employees to have fun (pre-covid). Even though I am outsourced and working at client site, I visit because I enjoy participating for all JIT events, as i feel comfortable to mingle and have little chats with other colleagues as they make me feel included.

 

Tell us, what you like most to do – something which your colleagues may not even know of

I do not get to cook as a chore, but I love experimenting various rice recipes, soup and other dessert recipes. Soup is my favorite and sometimes I try with different ingredients and spices to make my original soup. It never gets repetitive as I always mix things up.

There is nothing more fulfilling in my work than releasing a product into the wild and seeing it flourish. It’s a great field to be in. It’s a great industry to be working in, and a challenging and enjoyable role to fill.

 

Hope you got to know Ruksala a little bit better, who is valued member of our Team JIT family.

 

“6 Years and counting! It has been and still is one amazing adventure, with limitless growth, learning to be resilient, open communication to talk freely and customers who make you innovate. This invaluable experience is what I value at JIT.”

Meet Our Group Manager PR and Corporate Communications

We’re are excited to feature a live wire, Dhanya Gunawardana from our company who has been with us for 6+ years.

Dhanya is our Group Manager -Public relations and Corporate Communication, who has worked across many industries, before she settled in with JIT. Her colleague and friend, Dilshani (Group Manager HR) had a quick Q&A with her, so read on to hear what she has to say.

What excites you about working at JIT?

For me personally, I always need to be fulfilled in whatever I do, whether it’s my workout, making a favourite dish, helping someone, or performing in my job role – I need to have meaning in what I’m doing with the ability to use skills to its fullest. This stimulates my confidence, and when I am confident, I am better geared to rise above challenges. This why the mantra #WeDontDoAverage resonates with me, as this for me means – we need to keep pushing forward to not just survive but to have purpose.

This is JIT through and through, which can be only experienced by meeting people behind the scenes. It’s people, Team JIT, who is the core, that teaches you to push past your fears to create your own success. Take it or Leave it mentality which I love – Honest and Direct!

Being a live wire, it’s just how I am wired. I take every experience I encounter, as a learning for my own growth mindset.

A PR & Corporate Communications role needs a combination of multiple skills, with a strong multi-tasking ability, because you need to be very Creative, well versed at Presentations and public speaking, Communicating using Data, Research and Analytical thinking, Technical skills and effective Writing skills to be effective in the role, so that the communication is clear, to varied audiences across many demographics.

The objective of my job role is to create comprehensive solutions that strengthen messages, engage audiences, and inspire a call to action. You’ve got to nail every word, make the message clear, capture the interest of the audience and get a call to action for every output. I love all of it.

 Key Take Away

1# Take Time to get to know each of your co-workers personally; they all have really interesting stories to tell.

It dawned on me that perhaps, there was a disconnect between how my co-workers saw me and expected me to act, which came down to understanding who I was, where I came from. Recognizing this, I made a conscious effort from the word go, in order to fit into the JIT Culture, I needed to make and create a meaningful impact, with my co-workers, as well just in my work.

One day, when team members came into my office and wanted to chat about their stories, I jumped in an interrupted before they could finish. This was a bad habit had, which has vastly improved. But soon, I got their candid feedback saying, ‘Dhans just let me finish’.

Following my team mate’s advice, I began putting more time, energy, and effort improving this weakness – because I needed to improveme this to inculcate meaningful relationships. I made the effort, stepped back to give full attention truly listen to understand – not just to reply.

Trusting team mates, and vice versa, takes time. In fact, if I had not taken the time to get to know my co-workers, the people – who the most important part of the company, I would have not been able to build or form any meaningful relationships, friendships, nor progress as an individual on a personal or professional level.

But you know what happened? Being genuinely interested in them, helping them when I could and building relationships eased the stress of work, and the strain of challenging tasks. Being a true people-person felt good!

So, through this I learned that work relationships are essential in helping you succeed. People respond well to those they know and those who treat them right.

Once I realized this, three notable things happened:

• I was given more responsibility – new job role areas
• My ideas were heard (and very often approved)
• Additional support from Teams

What personality characteristics are most important to be successful in a team environment?

Empathy, Kindness and Respect 100% – without a doubt!

When you have strong relationships with your team mates, we will be respected more. And when we’re respected, more, you can speak and expect people to listen to what you’re saying. Even if your team mates don’t agree with you 100% with your ideas or comments, they’re likely to take a chance and offer support if they value you as a person and as a professional. Having your Team Mates on your side means that if you make the infrequent last-minute request, ask for a favor, or even miss a deadline, you’re not going to be punished for it.

To have strong relationships, you need to have Empathy, kindness and respect, which all results in your personal growth, success and happiness. Is that what we all want – to be happy?

What is something people should know about you?

1. I am an extrovert and an introvert – an ambivert! Also, that I am Loyal to a fault. I have never been a fan of hidden agendas, but I do respect and value discretion, with trust being the most important. This is probably why am very direct or brutally honest as I’m told – but not judgmental
2. I’m a complete makeup, food and skincare junkie. I started making my own organic skin care products for myself and for a few friends of mine, which I started in my early 20’s. (Gosh, which makes it over a decade with this obsession). I use to watch Youtube videos daily, taking down notes, to meticulously test and create my own products. Even perfume!

What sources of social media do you follow regularly, and why those ones? 

Linkedin and Pinterest.

I love Pinterest, because it stimulates my idea generation when exploring, images and videos on virtual bulletin boards. Whether you want ideas to revamp your boardroom, to getting lead generation tips for your social media posts – You have it all.

Linkedin. This is another fantastic platform which I personally use it for my continuous learning to develop my skills, to validate your skills, learn from your peers, leaders and to networking. And, the more you use it, the more you learn and connect with other people in and outside your niche.  A key aspect which I like, is that, it lets others speak for you. Personal branding is not all about you telling the world how great you are – it confirms the truth when others help you confirm your accomplishments or skills.

We all know you have a lot of Energy. But tell me What do you do like doing most outside of work?

I was definitely born with excess amounts of energy, but I do love to relax. But my definition of relaxing is a combination of things, from a good workout, cooking something delicious to eat, spending time with family and friends, giving my dog a bath, watching true crime documentaries on Netflix, creating homemade organic body packs and scrubs, strolling around supermarkets to see what’s new, and so much more – The list goes on! Saying it all, seems a bit overloaded to be relaxing, but strangely it isn’t for me. Call it a blessing or a curse, it keeps me stress-free.

Being part of this JIT is also being part it’s exciting 25-year journey, which you are intrinsically part of, end to end.

There you go folks. Hope you got to know Dhanya a little bit better. She’s an integral part of Team JIT and we are excited to witness her journey going forward.