The developer function plays an essential role in the activities and achievements of an ESN (Digital Services Company) integrator and pure player editor in Dematerialization and Digitalization such as Océane Consulting Data Management. Cross-generational perspectives between two developers, Christophe Richard, Developer/Team Leader, and Téofilo Jeandot, Developer, who share common ground on the fundamentals and passion for their profession.
Could you tell us about your profiles and your career paths at Océane Consulting Data Management?
Téofilo Jeandot - I pursued standard IT studies, namely a DUT followed by a Master's degree. I completed my last two years of Master's with a work-study program at Océane Consulting Data Management, which I joined as a full-time employee a year ago as a developer.
Christophe Richard - For my part, I have been working in IT services companies for twenty years. After studying Economics, I changed my career path to move towards IT, quickly focusing on web development. I have been working in this company for twenty years and have witnessed all its changes and development.
How would you summarize the developer profession? What would a typical developer's day look like?
CR - The developer profession requires strong analytical, adaptability and listening skills. There is also a dimension of humility in this activity, knowing how to work as a team and turn to colleagues who might have better knowledge of certain technical aspects of a project. Curiosity is also essential because we must seek solutions suited to our clients' demands. You need to be autonomous while engaging in communication and a collaborative approach. Essentially, developing means knowing how to respond to varied and complex needs that require all these qualities.
Our days vary greatly. What shapes our days and is recurring is the agile approach we use to manage our projects. A daily meeting lasting fifteen minutes takes place every day and addresses the following questions: Where are we on the project? What are the potential blockers? How will we continue to move forward? This brief exchange time is valuable and healthy because it allows for situational updates both internally and with the client, who is very regularly included in these daily meetings. This daily meeting also helps us remove blockers and obstacles by sharing practices and experiences.
TJ - I agree with Christophe on what he just explained. The developer profession involves being exposed to very different problems and addressing them by working as a team internally and also communicating with clients. There isn't really a typical day, and fortunately not, otherwise it would be tedious, but our daily work is really about developing features and finding the best solutions to do so.
What tools, software and technologies do you use?
TJ - We use a wide range of technologies, I'll mention some: JAVA, JAVASCRIPT of course and Angular and Polymer for frameworks. We work with relational and non-relational databases. I also develop with Eclipse, Visual Studio Code…
CR - I would also mention IntelliJ for development and Spring for the framework side. What we have just mentioned is not exhaustive.
What are your motivations and obstacles in your developer profession?
CR - The greatest motivation to be a developer is undoubtedly loving self-renewal. We are constantly exposed to technical challenges that require us to evolve, to search, to find solutions, which is very stimulating. There is an almost "magical" aspect when we have overcome all obstacles on a project and the code works efficiently, can stand the test of time, and is shareable by all stakeholders. Following the evolution of technologies - and I have seen many come and go with my experience - is motivating. Some years, I had to update myself or learn five or six technologies, which is quite a lot, but it is a challenge that keeps us alert and helps us progress. Learning the mechanics of frameworks is not simple but it is fascinating. I am surrounded by young colleagues and I have great pleasure working with them, which is another source of motivation for me.
TJ - I completely agree with Christophe on the idea of constant renewal. In our profession, there are always new subjects, no problem is really similar, there are constantly new technologies, techniques or tools that appear or evolve that we must know about. This is a strong motivation. I feel great satisfaction when a solution works. Beyond being a profession, developing is very enjoyable for me.
I don't really see any obstacles in this profession. Some may find it constraining to constantly have to stay up to date with the rapid evolution of technologies and tools in our professional environment. For me, this is neither a constraint nor an obstacle, it is a constant that brings stimulation and adds spice to our profession.
What career developments do you see for a developer?
TJ - There are several possibilities: remain a developer and perfect your expertise, move towards Information Systems Architecture, or move into project management and oversight. This last option does not appeal to me at the moment. In any case, I fully see myself in this profession for the long term. Moving towards and evolving into a Technical Director role motivates me and represents a challenge for me.
CR - I have had a long career in this profession because development suits me and has always been a challenge. I have experienced many situations and complex scenarios. I am often called upon internally by younger colleagues, and I find this exchange, this knowledge transfer and sharing of experience very satisfying and enriching. It is ongoing dialogue. I believe this profession has so many facets and challenges that it is truly possible to build a long-term career in it. Some may specialize in databases, others in security or GED/ECM (Electronic Document Management / Enterprise Content Management), which is in high demand at the moment. The spectrum is wide.
What advice would you give to someone wishing to pursue the developer profession?
CR - The key word for me is autonomy on your projects. This does not mean working in isolation, which is not the case at Océane Consulting Data Management as we have explained. Interaction and exchange are paramount in the developer profession. Being autonomous means knowing how to ask the right questions when faced with a client problem, knowing how to question yourself, organize yourself, anticipate potential blockers and turn to others when you have questions.
TJ - I am just starting out and therefore have too little perspective to give real advice. I would only say that you need to be curious to seek out and know about existing solutions and tools in order to provide clients with precise, concrete, functional and pragmatic answers.
