What is your current role and what are your activities?

I am a Technical Consultant at AmeXio in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. I work a lot with Adobe Experience Manager, big frameworks (for example Apache Sling, Apache Jackrabbit, OSGi, etc). In our company I try to keep our standards high, by promoting code quality, proper testing, automation, ... I lead the Java Discussions Guild, where we gather and share knowledge about Java and everything around it. At the customer I work for, I’m responsible for an AEM project that hosts 140+ websites, where maintainability, designing for long-term usage and scalability of the solutions is important. I’m an Apache Committer, specifically for Apache Sling. I often contribute to open-source projects.
 

How did you come across AmeXio as an employer?

In 2013, Stefan Melis (old colleagues of ours) left the previous company we worked at. In 2014, he convinced Yu-Hang to join Euroscript (one of the former company names before we became a part of AmeXio Group). One month later, I also joined Euroscript. I loved the conversation I had: It was no problem to gain knowledge, to get certificates, etc. At the previous company I spent two years obtaining a budget for doing an exam. I was told that we had fries on Friday, drinks before the weekend, nice company parties and activities. It sounded like a very nice opportunity.
 

How would you describe your work at AmeXio in three words?

Everyday more interesting! 
 

What has surprised you the most within AmeXio and why?

The difference one can make. It’s amazing to be able to transfer knowledge to someone. There are many people in the organization that love to learn and are eager to get new knowledge about/insights in the things they are doing and developing. I’m also working for a customer that is absolutely happy with what I’m doing for them and with what I contribute. I often get compliments and I always work for them with a smile because I feel very appreciated by them. The relationships we have with our customers is very strong and tight knit.  
 

What tasks or activities do you get the most satisfaction from your work and why?

Helping out colleagues, transferring knowledge, teaching someone to debug that complicated issue and find out the reason it was going wrong. Usually, it’s in one line of code, but how do you get there?
 

What is the best tip you’ve ever gotten from a colleague?

It was actually at my previous work place: whenever I was stuck with something, I would go to my colleague and he would always help me out. He told me: Just start debugging. Just start somewhere. And that is exactly what I do nowadays and I always find the cause of issues. This is what I now tell and show my colleagues and everyone around me. I often see people with the same “struggle” I had 10+ years ago. And it’s amazing to be able to be the one to provide the solution and get them going.
 

What anecdote or experience within AmeXio has stuck with you to date and why?

That must be the excellent team we have. Our Customer Experience (CX) team is very close to each other; we have a good bond. We all appreciate each other. Also outside the workfloor. We often go for dinner together, during COVID-19 we looked out for each other and helped each other through that tough time. Some colleagues I also see during my free time, for example in the weekend. We have a nice atmosphere, and we all contribute to it.