Bitrisers come from all over the world and from all different backgrounds. So, meet Roland Bak — a Support Engineer from Hungary! Read about his journey to Bitrise, what it is possible to achieve at Bitrise and beyond, and his most defining career moments.
Why did you choose to work at Bitrise?
I previously worked at another startup where I tackled customer requests, but I wanted to delve into more technical issues. After a coding bootcamp, I was looking for an opportunity where I could try out my newly acquired technical skills.
I heard amazing things about Bitrise, from friends already working there, and they offered a position where I could merge my social and technical skills, so it sounded like the ideal opportunity.
What’s your role at Bitrise? How does your role contribute to your wider career journey and provide opportunities for the future?
I am a technical specialist in Support, meaning I tackle everyday issues that arise from building apps via CI/CD. This requires both specialized knowledge that comes from the nature of CI/CD, and almost paradoxically, a very wide range of knowledge due to the number of different platforms we support.
It’s a challenge but gives great opportunities to grow with insights into the many forms of mobile development, which is extremely useful in case I want to branch out.
What was the lesson that you learned along the way, that you wish you had known right from the start?
That impostor syndrome does not go away, you just learn to deal with it. Seriously though, software development — especially mobile development — changes fast and evolves at a rate where it is impossible to know everything, and it is useful to accept your limitations, as it eliminates much of the stress that could arise from this kind of work.
Do you have any tips you’d like to share with aspiring Risers?
Don’t be afraid to fail, failing is how you can learn and realign yourself to grow and be more successful. A nurturing workplace (such as Bitrise) will always appreciate your efforts and your proactivity.
Listen to criticism as heeding sound advice and accepting your shortcomings will make you a more valuable person on the long run.
What kind of skills do you need to have to work effectively at Bitrise?
Empathy, inquisitiveness and communication skills.
You need to understand the problem the user is having, not just on the technical side, but the impact an issue can have on them. Empathizing with the user helps you with not taking it personally in case things don’t go the way you wanted, and it also pushes you to try and help as much as you can.
Communication skills help you convey this to the users, which in turn will (hopefully) result in a better experience for everybody.
And, of course, you need to be able to find a solution to the problem — or at least find out enough information about any potential issue to realize where you need to go for additional help.
What’s your favorite method of learning?
I believe that learning by doing is the most effective way to improve yourself. Lots of practice is what will make you have reliable skills.
