Hello Everyone! I’m Vanessa, one of the Human Resource of Commude PH.

This time, we would like to share a dialogue between our Web Development team. I’ll be interviewing Nicole (our Web Team Leader) and with her members Astrid, Bonnie and Wilson.

I’m really excited for this casual interview to get to know more our hardworking developers. ✨✨

Brief  introduction about yourself:

Nicole: 

 

• Hi, I’m Nicole R. Manalo, Front End Team Leader. Full time working mom. Currently living in Caloocan. A very dedicated individual on achieving things and doing extra mile for work and family.

 

Astrid: 

 

• Im Astrid M. Almario, A Jr. Web Front-End Developer and a Graphic Designer on the side. I enjoy the process of converting flat web design into a working website. I also having a heart of an artist, I enjoy working on Graphic design / LOGO design on the side.

 

Bonnie:

 

• Konnichiwa! I’m Bonnie Bucad and I work as a front-end web developer here in Commude PH. I like surfing the internet and reading and watching interesting things online. And also lately I’ve been interested in solving Sudoku and listening to TWICE Korean girl group.

 

Wilson: 

 

• I’m Wilson Buena. I play a lot of basketball in my free time, and I sleep a lot. ?

What made you decide to join Commude PH? and what was your first impression? 

Nicole: 

 

• I actually don’t have any idea on what Front End does, I only tried to apply in Commude since I have experience in WordPress but my knowledge before was only 10% on what we we’re doing now. And the most important is to develop my knowledge in programming.
• I actually started here in Commude PH as a pioneer, so first impression there’s no process on what we do, the company was just starting when I came, we don’t have manager, we don’t have any process before, just do what you can do on given projects. When months pass, eventually the organization formed, everything has a process. It actually exceeded the first impression that I had.

 

Astrid: 

 

• What made me join Commude is their website, I believed it reflected the work quality and beauty that Commude can create and when I see that website it made me want to attain that level of web development skill.
• In one word “intimidated”, when I first started at COMMUDE I immediately realized that the skill level that I thought I have is nowhere near the reality so to speak. I saw how other coders made the websites and the skill that they have is much more than what I initially had but I know that those skill can be learned through experience and hard work, I am very fortunate that my fellow developers were kind enough to teach me some neat tips and tricks for me to be able to catch up to them.

 

Bonnie:

 

• One of the reason I joined Commude PH is because it is owned by Japanese, and we know that Japanese people are respectful and very hardworking.
• I feel excited and nervous at the same time because it’s also my first developer job.

 

Wilson: 

 

• The company looks promising and it’s still young. I had a feeling that it’s the perfect environment for me to start and grow as a developer.
• Everyone looked so approachable from the start, it was a huge part why I was able to communicate properly with the team.

Tell us about your career so far. And few of your personal goals

Nicole: 

 

• I’ve been in Commude for almost 5yrs. My career in Commude was very fast, After a year, they’ve promoted me as Team Leader. And I think I’ve been MVP for 3x already, and when I came back from Maternity leave, I have Team Player award as well. I’ve been called speed master for so many times as well, whenever the clients gave impossible deadlines. Hahaha
• For career wise, I want to have my own business. For personal, I want to have new house and car to use for my family.

 

Astrid: 

 

• So far I believe that I’m at a level where I can confidently work on a project with very minimal supervision and I think if I keep on developing my skill I can reach our team leader’s level. in a way that is what i really want to achieve, be a person that can be relied on by my team
• personally my ultimate goal is to be a full stack developer. a something that you can call a “one-man-army”. I want to be able to design and develop websites all on my own. I want to learn and be able to be both a back-end developer and a front-end developer.

 

Bonnie:

 

• So far so good, I’ve learned a lot already. Actually last March 8, 2022 marks the end of my first year at this company as a developer.
• I want to master my position and advance into a higher role.

 

Wilson: 

 

• I’ve been learning a lot from my co-workers, especially my team members and the directors I work with all the time.
• I want to be successful in my chosen field of endeavor. For my personal goal, I just want to live a peaceful life. 🙂

 

Would you share about how your team works?

Nicole: 

 

• Our manager starts a scrum meeting in the morning, to divide each project or task. We usually work alone in a project, but some projects uses 2-3 developers to accommodate the load and deadline. Whenever the developer are having issue on their task or no idea on how to accomplish it, they always ask me or other team member for help. When we finished task we do self check and pass it to our director for quality checking and after that they gave it to the client for final checking. When everything was finalized it’s time to migrate it to live site.
• The qualities of my team that I admire was they communicate and offer support to each other. They focus on goals and result. Always honest in regards if they can’t do some tasks and flexible when given too many task. I think they all need improvement on more complicated task, and they have to learn some of the knowledge I do for other projects so we have all the same skills.

 

Astrid: 

 

• From what I can see our team is very independent, we can work on the project on our own and coordinate when needed. for example when we have a project we can immediately work on it on our own and when we have to coordinate then that is when we openly communicate with eat other and that is what i think is the key on why we are effective.
• What I admire in our team is that we can easily communicate whatever our problems and issues at work we have to our superiors. that is something I do admire here more than my other web related experience. this is something that is valuable to both us and the management.

 

Bonnie:

 

• We always bounce off ideas and taking everyone’s ideas on board.
• Sharing knowledge and skills, and everyone is flexible and productive.

 

Wilson: 

 

• Well, we just have constant communication with each other to help solve problems that have been encountered before and some new ones. Good communication is key to our success, and Google. 🙂
• I think our team is very tight, we help each other all the time.

Insights about current work setup 

Nicole: 

 

• NO TRAFFIC HAHA ???
  I got to spend more time with my family
  Work flexibility, more time to work, no need to rush just to go home
  It saves time and money on transportation, home rental and other costs.
  I can work anywhere. However,  it’s  prone to distractions and internet problems and power outages (rarely issue)

 

Astrid: 

 

• For me living in a somewhat far away city a work from home setup is very convenient we don’t have to think of waking up to travel to work. we could just simply wakeup then immediately work. as an IT we do have those times when ideas and solution suddenly pops-up from our head and having the workplace beside you so that it can be applied helps a lot. the only downside is that I find that the camaraderie between co-workers is very low and that I think affects our motivation to learn from each other.

 

Bonnie:

 

• Aside from eliminating commute stress and related expenses, working from home improve my work-life balance. It makes me more productive and getting more work done. I think the only downside is sometimes the internet is unstable/inconsistent.

 

Wilson: 

 

• I love that we’re working from home because I’m close to my family and I’m never late. On the other hand, it’s easier to feel sleepy because I can see my bed.

How do you balance life and work?

Nicole: 

 

• I manage my time wisely on work, so I don’t have to do overtime. More time with my family out of office hours.

 

Astrid: 

 

• its not simple but i always made clear that once im “clocked-out” then its time for me to switch to being a “non-developer” attitude where i concentrate on my family and some other hobbies that i do. i think thats the best way to balance your mind, being able to clearly separate your work and your personal life so that your work wont affect other aspects of your life.

 

Bonnie:

 

• I’m trying to get enough of sleep to prepare for the next day. I also just enjoying my work to avoid more stress.

 

Wilson: 

 

• I workout before and after work, it’s a part of my active lifestyle. No work on weekends, unless the deadline for a project is coming for me. Yikes.

Please tell us what kind of candidates who are suitable for Commude PH Web Team.

Nicole:

 

• The kind of candidates that are suitable for this company was flexible, considerate, knowledgable on what we do or willing to learn & can work under pressure.

 

Astrid: 

 

• when i was starting here at COMMUDE what i showed is the eagerness to learn and improve. this is what i think is important on being a web developer. that is the ability to keep on improving and absorbing new skills that can be beneficial to the team.

 

Bonnie:

 

• Someone who love of learning, he/she who likes to try and learn new things.

 

Wilson:

 

• People who are good at multitasking and are really adept at absorbing knowledge left and right. I think those who are willing to learn are the best fit for the team.

To end up this blog, I’ve recently understood that our dedication and enthusiasm follow us no matter what situation we’re into. I have been in Commude Philippines, Inc. for 2 years now and I witnessed people grow, survived, adapt and improved! Isn’t it incredible? Of course, we’ve had our share of heartbreaks along the way, but they’ve only strengthened us and given us the confidence to move forward to set our objectives and make them a reality.

Furthermore, we would like to express our gratitude to everyone of you for your support, and we hope you will not grow tired of it. ??