Here at Opinov8, Op8rs represent our culture. Cover Stories portray the richness within all of us, the differences that make us who we are. 

In this edition, we will talk with Yana V., our JS Developer, who is also a lead of the Opinov8 Hobbies Community. She tells us about her career at Opinov8 and how various hobbies help her maintain a work-life balance.

Get to know Yana a little more through this Cover Story and don’t miss the opportunity to join us and be part of this gr8 adventure too!

How did you start your professional career in IT? Why did you decide to try yourself as a JS developer?

It really happened by accident, I could be a designer now,  but I am very glad that everything happened exactly like this. Today, I can't imagine my life without development and JS. 🥰

I studied at the University of Computer Science. As it turned out, my expectations and reality were different from school computer science and programming at the university. I remember how I complained to my mother that I didn’t understand anything and wanted to quit the university. 🙄

I decided to wait a bit, and luckily in the second year, I found the IT-sphere that I liked — Front-end development. Then I started studying HTML code and I tried myself on the Opencart platform. But, I realized that I could do something better, and decided to find a more interesting area for myself, and found that is JS developing.💘

What is the main thing you love about working in IT?

To tell the truth, I love everything about working in IT! IT can help people become smarter, innovative, and learn at the same time. Can you imagine something better? I like that the IT professionals need to know information about all areas of activity. How can we develop something if we don't know how? 

At the same time, it is really hard work. Sometimes it seems to me that there is no room in my head for new information. 🤪 I think about work all the time, sometimes I cannot find a solution to a problem and I see this solution in my dreams. 🙃

Have you worked remotely before, what were the biggest challenges you faced? How do you overcome them?

No, I have never worked remotely before last spring. When the lockdown started, I faced real panic because I couldn't imagine myself working from home. Disclaimer: I am a very communicative person! 😅

Quarantine has changed me. I got a bit depressed, as I lack normal communication and physical meetings. But, over time, I adapted to this reality and began to devote more time to myself. I signed up for various programs from photography courses to sport marathons. I tried to keep in touch more online with my team. It made me feel more united and connected. 💙

What is your typical workday like? How do you manage your time and productivity?

As I mentioned before, working from home is not easy for me. What I learned this year, you should always create a plan and stick to it.  Everything is very individual, but here is a piece of advice that helped me:

• Make your plan for the whole day. Write down ALL your small and big “TO DOs”. Do not forget to praise yourself by the end of the day (even if not all tasks have been completed 🙈).
• Find the best time to work for yourself. If you like to get up early and start working early too, but your co-workers start working later — don't worry! Just discuss this with your manager and adjust the working hours for you.
• Set up your workplace. It can be something cute on your desk or a more comfortable chair, for example. As for me, I like flowers and candles — that's why they are the usual and highly welcomed guests on my table. 😍

How do you manage your work-life balance? What activities do you do to maintain it?

It's too hard for me to stay at home all the time. I try to do sports 3 times a week, as it keeps me fit. I love to start my day with yoga classes, led by our charming corporate trainer. Sometimes it is difficult for me to wake up early, but the feeling of meeting our team members always gives me the strength to get out of bed. 🙃

It is also a great achievement for me that I learned how to make awesome coffee, just like in your favorite cafe, only even better. 😉I started brewing coffee without a coffee machine and now I know how to make an amazing froth, so there is no need to buy coffee, as I know all the secrets of the barista. 😂

Also, I began participating in several interesting marathons. First was a photo marathon, with an amazing community. I was so happy to meet great people with a common hobby. We learned how to take awesome photos for all levels. 

The second was a sports marathon. It was quite challenging, we were shown different types of training and how to do the exercises right. Some I can’t handle, such as where we have to do ab exercises - 200 times at a time. 🙈

Of course, I continue to improve my culinary talents. I really love to cook, and often share my favorite recipes in our Hobbies Community, where I am the leader. 😋

Also, one of the important things for me, that we started visiting the park one day per week with my team. We also started doing various activities online. We even made cakes together, made a florarium, candles, painted pictures, and so on. Fortunately, the digital age has made it possible, and you always feel like a part of the team, wherever you are. 😎

What is your favorite hobby? 

My favorite hobby is to cheer up my friends, tell my life stories and, of course, take pictures on my phone. 

At the university, I had an idea how to make some pocket money. I wanted to take wedding photos on my iPhone, but no one supported me, so I gave up this idea. ☹️ Then I realized that I LOVE taking pictures, so I did not give up this hobby and during quarantine, I decided to take several photography courses. 🤓

During this time of quarantine, we all revised our habits, we all had free hours, which we usually spent on the way to the office and back, now we can use this time to learn something new, or pay more attention to our hobbies, or even start a new one. It's great that we have our Communities, where everyone can share their hobbies and passions, where we can collaborate and be connected with other Opinov8 members. I love to share my knowledge and skills, and I'm glad we have a platform where everyone can learn a little more about each other. 💙

Do you have any tips for staying motivated? 

Every day we know much more than we knew yesterday. Once I heard one very good phrase that is relevant to me: 

If you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room.

What studies would you recommend to someone who wants to make their career as a JS Developer?

If you are thinking about learning JS development, I hope these tips help you get one step close to your dream:

• If you're just starting to think about JS, find some tutorial videos on YouTube. Try to understand whether it is yours or not.
• Read books about it, but if it's not for you right now, just watch the video and read some related articles.
• Follow Front-end development channels 
• Try to write your first code and never give up if you don't know everything, you need to practice.
• Find friends in IT, and I hope this person can motivate you. 

The last point is no less important for me because I felt it on myself. One day I pushed my boyfriend into IT, and then he pushed me to learn JS deeply, which is amazing! 😊

If you wanna join our super-cool JS Developer Team, don’t hesitate to check our open positions or send your CV to careers@opinov8.com 

#bebold #behuman