I have been with IT Labs for 1 year. So far it is going really well, and I am most proud of the fact that I have managed to get this job and place myself in a great learning environment along with great co-workers.

The biggest change that I have experienced with IT Labs came in the form of responsibilities. Now that I am a full-time employee, my responsibilities are bigger, and that in turn motivates me to work even harder and commit to my goals even more. The thing that surprised me the most (in a good way) is the fact that there is a huge emphasis on knowledge sharing through the various communities and employee growth, both personal and professional.

In 5 years time, I want to further expand my knowledge and skills with a couple of certifications under my belt and possibly mentor new DevOps interns. Also, I want to thank Kostadin Kadiev, Blagoja Panovski, and Milan Gjorcevski, among others, for guiding me on my journey and giving me valuable tips and tricks to master my craft.

Besides playing table tennis, FIFA and darts, I really enjoy talking to my co-workers on various topics, such as traveling, arts, and sciences, because you get a different perspective and view on things, which is a cool way to learn something new every day.

Always strive to learn more, believe in yourself, and never be afraid to ask the questions that you have on your mind. Also, never give up on your dreams if something goes wrong along the way. A little fun fact about me: I applied for a one-month internship at IT Labs back in 2019 and did not get accepted. But 3 years later, here I am, writing this to share my story and encourage other people to pursue their goals and dreams.

I made it 1 year as a full-time employee this month! Before that, I was part of the internship stream that lasted for 3 months. As a part of this company for this past year, I noticed a particular progress in my knowledge, a change in the way of thinking, in solving problems, a change in the way of communication as well as a change in the overall way of life. I am most proud of the fact that I dared to try, and furthermore that I had the chance to be part of this company and to have the opportunity to prove myself in an industry – something I have dreamed of for a long time.

With IT Labs, many things changed in my life. This was my first job, and I felt for the first time what it was like to handle big responsibilities, be financially independent and start a completely new way of life. They say that every new beginning brings new challenges, so in my case, I can say that starting at IT Labs was also the start of a series of beautiful things that happened in my life. From the first day here, I was most surprised (pleasantly) by the friendly and kind attitude of all the colleagues in the company, who from the first day were cordial and eager to help me manage, as well as to feel like I’ve been here for years.

My goal is to get much more experience and knowledge and to develop myself not only in my field (front-end), but also to expand my knowledge in the field of backend technologies. I expect that I will progress enough to be able to pass on my knowledge to some of the next generations that follow and will be part of our company. Five years from now, I see myself with my laptop on a beach with my family, writing code with ease, with a cocktail next to me.(If you really want it, you will find a way to get it 😉).

My favorite thing so far is to discover new places and new food for lunch time with my co-workers as well as playing table tennis in the office Arena. But there’re also so many other things that I love to do, like chatting on the breaks, sharing experiences from our work and private life, drinking coffee etc.

Listen to your heart and work hard for your goals. Don’t pay any attention to the negative or discouraging opinions – at the end of the day you are the creator of your future and it’s worth giving things a try, even if sometimes the outcome is not as you expected. Waking up every day and doing a job you don’t like is like serving a sentence, and you lose the purpose of life. It’s very important to feel fulfilled and to do what you have dreamed of in life.

I joined ITLabs as a Junior Business Analyst in January 2021 after completing my internship in the summer of 2020. So far, I’ve had the chance to work on different projects and industries and collaborate with a diverse team of great professionals I’ve learned so much from! Most proud of? I believe it is the project I am currently working on as a BA, being the first project I am entirely leading by myself—also, the possibility to bring our team to the Jumpstarter’s finals. Jumpstarter is an EU initiative and program where ITLabs applied in collaboration with the Faculty of Engineering (FEIT) Skopje with a solution that focuses on the establishment of an EV platform with a purpose of developing a modern solution that will support the growing EV infrastructure in Macedonia, with a view to expand it in the region.

The good thing about the tech industry and IT environment, I guess, is that it is never dull. Change is our constant, we live it daily, meeting different customers, working with a different set of people, and technologies, and facing different challenges both from tech and business perspectives. Having this in mind, I cannot think of something in particular that surprised me the most, work-related. On the other hand: the people – ITLabs is full of amazing people. Friendly, and always willing to contribute both to the company and outside of it. We’ve seen many small acts of kindness making the change for our small communities.

Five years from now seems like a reasonable time for me to gain some deep experience in business analysis practices and start climbing the project management ladder. Also, during my master’s studies, I’ve been focused a lot on the operational side of the business, so in maybe 6-7 years from now, I’d really like to see myself covering the role of operations management, improving processes, performance while helping the organization with operational strategies and improve our day-to-day work and working conditions.

Honesty, I did not have enough opportunities to spend some time with my colleagues and do some activities. With the whole Covid-19 thing going on, between personal and professional stuff, I can say that I barely worked for 2-3 months from the office, while mostly doing my job from home. I participated in a few of the many knowledge share sessions we have at IT Labs, and I attended a couple of happenings in the office Arena. Since I prefer live gatherings, I’d say that the Arena gatherings and events are my favorite so far.

Have no fear when joining the IT world. It is a fun place to grow both as a professional and human! 

I heard about IT Labs at the Job Fair event on FEIT. At the time, I just finished my ISTQB certification and was looking for opportunities to gain practical knowledge in software testing. I checked out the website, applied on the company web page, and in record time I had an interview scheduled. The rest, as they say, is history.

Regarding the internship program, I remember we were a group of 6 new interns, working on a new project from the start. It was a great experience to participate in the whole process of creating business requirements, design, implementation, and testing of the software with the help of experienced engineers. Three months during which all of us boosted our knowledge and got some real experience. I would like to add that working with the whole group of interns is a very positive thing as we learn and grow together – those are friendships for life!

On the day of the interview, I expressed my passion for automation testing which was heard by the company, and I was given the opportunity to work and grow in that field – so, I see myself automating test cases and speeding up the whole test process.

Every day starts with a stand-up meeting, but after that – every day is special. Generally, in 2 weeks sprints I work on analysis of new requirements, planning test strategy, implementing, and executing manual and automation tests and demonstrating the new functionalities on product owners, but every day includes meetings and discussion with my colleagues and most important learning new techniques, approaches, and tools for testing.

I’ve been with IT Labs for four years now and want to add that here at IT Labs, the internship is not the only time you get to have a mentor and support from more experienced people, but also as an employee – we always support each other, because as everyone knows, sharing is caring.

I searched for an internship program to fill my extra time while preparing my graduate thesis. A friend told me about the internship in IT Labs, so I applied. A couple of days after the interview, they called me up to tell me that I shall begin in a couple of days. Have to say, it’s one of the best decisions I made about my career – I still remember how excited I was that day.

I had a great time during the internship. Blagoja Panovski, (a senior engineer at the time, now a Principal Software Architect), was my mentor, and I learned a lot from him, but what impressed me the most was the working atmosphere, the friendly attitude of the senior engineers, and their willingness to guide and share knowledge. The lunch breaks, hangouts, and treasure hunting team building are things I still remember.

I had my sights set on becoming a software architect, and I worked hard to become one – since reaching that goal, I’m now focused on solution design, being a good mentor and leader, and just learning something new every day.

As a software architect, my day is filled with a lot of activities: from code reviews, coding, deployments, and meetings with teams – all the way to engaging in more company-level activities, which include planning, brainstorming sessions, mentorship, and development programs. Aside from the regular work stuff, there are the coffee breaks, hanging out with colleagues, and chit-chatting with people from other teams.

An advice for all aspiring techies – it’s okay to not have a clear vision of what you want to do in the future or what you want to specialize in or become a pro at. I came here as an undergrad without a clear vision in which direction I wanted to develop, but I knew I had to keep learning and growing. At IT Labs, I have the chance to experiment and work with cutting-edge tech, but also improve my skills and develop new ones – some of which I was not even aware of before. I’ve been here for almost ten years now and stayed because I knew I’d have the kind of environment and culture that would fit me – a collaborative environment where individuals work as one cohesive team and knowledge flows freely. Find this, and you’ll do great things.

It was during my studies; we had a mandatory internship. My uni colleague, Magde, (now my co-worker) had mentioned that she started an internship at IT Labs, so I decided to apply for the summer program as well, and I got in!

Quite the rollercoaster. I applied for QA internship, however during the interview and the assessment, the recruitment people told me that my skills are more suitable for BA. At the time I didn’t know exactly what a BA was, but I decided to shoot my shot and accepted the offer. I learned a great deal from my mentors, as they supported me every step of the way, and helped me immensely during the internship, and also later on.

Lately, my focus has been on product management activities, so I see my future self: climbing the product manager/product owner ladder. I’m interested in this field and at IT Labs, we’re encouraged to keep learning and developing, so I’ll go for it!

Facilitating meetings with both the team and the clients, lots of emails, documenting requirements, doing analysis and research, brainstorming, preparing mockups, and the list goes on. No day is the same, and that’s the one thing I really love about this job.

When I first came to IT Labs, my goal was to learn more about software quality and become an experienced QA engineer. But I walked out of the internship interview as a BA intern. You might ask yourself how and why this has happened, but remember this – people here can see potential in you, to develop in ways you’re not even aware are possible.

It was an ex-roommate who had already started an internship in ITL who suggested that I apply. Funny story, I was interviewed multiple times (Ana Strezoska, IT Labs’ People Specialist, may confirm), the first interview was for a DevOps engineer, but I ended up changing my mind and coming again for a second as a Backend Engineer, yeah… that was a lot of interviews through the process, but in the end, it was actually perfect, as I found something that really interested me and the time, and I’m still going with that.

I can say for sure that I started from 0.5 with truly little knowledge in software development outside the general programming knowledge from the university and learned A LOT throughout the program. Miki Jovanovski was there as our mentor supporting and teaching us how to be better developers, now, he is on my team, and I’m still learning from him.

I don’t really have a “set in stone” future job position, but I’d like to go with the flow, and explore and learn things that I find interesting and things that can make a difference, but yes, the sky is the limit. Also, IT Labs has a policy that allows people to move not just up the ladder, but also horizontally – you can switch from one stack to another, to different projects, different techs, and this is perfect for anyone willing to learn more and try to find their calling.

It always starts with a morning daily stand-up, a shake, and a coffee near me, and by noon we are done with meetings (hooray), but yeah, meetings are essential when you realize you need additional meetings for confirmations and syncs. After noon, I start with daily coding tasks, have other meetings with the team, and maybe prepare a pull request for code review (probably another cup of coffee in the meantime). And that’s a day in a wrap.

I’m a gamer at heart, I love coffee, passionate about technology, from recently into AI sphere and started CrossFit training.