Introducing Mike, our in-house development team’s new software engineer.
Andy Roberts
07th August 2019
That's right all, Weekly10 has grown again!
This time we've added some good looks and youthful charm to the development team, in the shape of Mike.
Mike (or Michal if he's in trouble), joins Weekly10 as our Senior Software Engineer this month, bringing a wealth of software development experience to the team, with an aim of driving platform performance and innovation. He also brings over 10 years' worth of industry knowledge having developed software within the HR Tech sector since 2008.
Born in Miedzyrzecz, Poland, it was perhaps destined that Mike would end up working in Wales, the only country with equally tongue-twisting place names!
While a teenager, his working life began, like all the great software engineers, at the local concrete factory - creating building blocks from the ground up, is after all essentially the basis of software development, albeit in more of a digital setting! He got his first taste of working in the world of IT shortly after when he got a job building a server room at a local psychiatric hospital - which is a fascinating topic to chat with Mike on, if you get the chance.
At 18, Mike headed to university to study a BSc in Physics. Soon realising that the lure of computer technology was too great to ignore, Mike dropped out to take up his first development job. Working in Poznań, Mike worked on a number of public sector projects and as part of the position, headed back to uni to study IT (with a minor in Physics).
In 2006, Mike was lured to the tech-hub that is the UK having landed a job in historic Oxford, as a web developer working on a series of e-commerce sites. Whilst living in Oxford, Mike travelled the length and breadth of his new homeland, from Edinburgh, to London, to Cornwall and Wales. Thankfully for Weekly10, something about Wales must have taken a hold!
Mike joins the team after 10 years working for Hemel Hempstead based NGA HR, where he worked on a series of projects looking at salary planning within a traditional HR management system. During his time at NGA, he ended up moving to Wrexham, working remotely. Whilst at NGA he developed not only his coding skills but a detailed understanding of the HR industry, learning about the intricacies of people management.
A keen entrepreneurial spirit led to Mike spending his spare time working on a number of side projects, most notable a piece of software designed to aid the installation, management and risk mitigation of cranes. Whilst working on this software, Mike utilised the co-working space at Wrexham Enterprise Hub, where he met our founder and CEO, Andy.
Impressed by what he saw from Mike, Andy hired him on a freelance basis to work on Weekly10's Slack integration. Obviously, that went well, as he's now a fully-fledged member of the Weekly10 team!
Let's get to know Mike a little better"¦
Hi Mike, welcome to the team. Tell us a little bit about you.
"œHi, thanks for the welcome! Uhm, I'm not sure where to start. I'm 33 years old, live in Wrexham with my wife and have two beautiful daughters. Oh, and a puppy! She's a Golden Retriever, Springer Spaniel cross, so an absolute crazy ball of energy"
Sounds like you've got your hands full! What's the name of the future Weekly10 office pup?
"œBMO (pronounced "˜bee-mo'). She's named after a character from Adventure Time"
Ah, so you let the girls name her?
"œErm, yes"¦ let's go with that!"
So other than clearly being a big Adventure Time fan, what other hobbies do you have?
"œIt's a hobby of necessity I know, but I love DIY. My carpentry skills are quite good, and I've built a few TV units and other pieces of furniture at home. I also converted the loft into a bedroom & mainly because of how much the quote to get a professional in came out at!"
Impressive! That makes you the office handyman too then, you'll regret sharing that information. What about reading?
"œI love to read, but I choose to read in English so I'm not the fastest! I find with English the selection of books is so much greater, plus it continuously improves my own English skill. The last book I read was a biography of Einstein. I'm a big fan of biographies."
Einstein, heavy stuff! And films?
"œI love Pulp Fiction. Or rather, I loved it when it came out, it had a huge effect on me in terms of sparking a love for film. I watched it when I was probably way too young to see it, and it just felt like the coolest thing I'd ever seen. There's no way I'm letting my daughters see it until they are at least 21 though! I also love the Godfather."
What is your taste in music like?
"œWhen I was younger, I was really into rock and metal. Kult were a personal favourite back in Poland. But these days I find more and more of my playlists are filled up with hip-hop, like Brockhampton."
And finally, where is your favourite holiday destination?
"œI love the south of France. We go camping over there when we can and I just love the hiking, the food, the coast and the people. Also, the hot weather!"
