Zypp & Jeroen: Looking back at year one

It has now been more than a year since I joined Zypp. In this blog post I reflect on this period and give a glimpse into what working at Zypp has been like, what a typical day is and some of the challenges I have faced during my time so far!

What motivated me to join Zypp?

As a student I worked as a software developer, nearing the end of my studies I became more interested in a role in which data (analysis/engineering) played a larger role. Around that time, I was researching a feature that required an integration with a financial software product. I came across an open-source Python package which was developed by Zypp. I looked at their website and saw what they were doing and send them an email expressing my interest in their activities and in a role in the team.

We had multiple conversations in which it became clear we were a match.

What does a typical workday look like for you?

I like to spend most of my time at the office since it is a very nice place and just a short bike ride from home. I am usually there around 09:30 and first check all the usual channels for any new tasks that are urgent. I then make a plan for the day based on all open tasks. Usually, I try to finish smaller tasks in the morning before lunch so that after lunch I have a larger block of time to focus on a single bigger feature or do some research into a topic.

I finish my day by updating the status of the projects I have worked on in our project management tool.

How would you describe working at Zypp?

I would describe working at Zypp as operating in a fast-paced environment on a diverse set of projects. We all work on multiple projects that differ quite a bit from another, this makes the day-to-day activities vary a lot. This keeps the work interesting but sometimes also leaves you feeling spread a little thin between projects. Since Zypp is such a young company there a lot of (technical) processes still to be standardized and to be figured out.

This means there is a lot of room for learning new things and you can truly have a significant impact on how things are done. Thinking about how things can be setup and discussing this with the team is one of the aspects of the work I really enjoy.

Can you share a challenge you have faced in your role and how you overcame it?

Since the number of products that we are developing/maintaining is steadily increasing, we must be sharp about good CI/CD infrastructure for application/pipeline deployment and version management. It’s been a fun challenge to think about how we can set this up optimally to increase development speed and minimise room for error. GitHub Actions and Terraform have both been a great help in this.

In my time here I learned a lot of SQL, my Python improved a ton but also my knowledge of CI/CD and IaaC (Terraform) has drastically increased. This helps a lot in making better decisions on this topic.

A personal challenge for me has been keeping all the stakeholders in the loop of the progress on the projects I am working on. Especially when I had just started, I sometimes struggled when switching a lot between projects to keep everyone informed. Making sure to set apart some time at the end of each day to write updates and keeping notes throughout the day has helped a lot in improving this aspect of my work.

Are there any specific projects or accomplishments that you are particularly proud of?

The work we have done for one of our clients that is a fire department is something that I am proud of. We have integrated a lot of their data sources into a single data warehouse and have built a multipurpose dataportal that they are actively using. It is nice to contribute to an organisation with such an important societal role. I have also been very involved with the development of our new product, Dimensions. We are now finishing the first version and it is already really cool (more on that soon!).

What advice would you give to someone considering a career at Zypp?

I can speak best to those considering a starting/junior position at Zypp since that is what I did. I can definitely recommend it. I think that you get a lot of responsibility, and you can quickly make your mark. The first months require a lot of figuring out and can be overwhelming. You will undoubtedly be thrown into the deep sometimes, but help is always available when needed. You will learn a lot about many different topics.

It did take some time for me to figure out what type of projects I like working on best, but once I did, an effort was always made by the team to involve me in those projects. It is a small team in which you will wear multiple hats, so if you truly want to specialise in a single role this might not be the right place for you (although this may change in the future as the teams grows).

There is a great working culture and atmosphere within the team in which trust plays a large role and I really feel like can count on the support. And to top it of, you will eat the best sandwiches in Rotterdam during our Friday lunches!

All in all, my first year at Zypp has been a diverse period in which I have learned a ton! I have been involved in quite some different projects which all presented unique challenges to overcome and learn from. Time has definitely flown by! Looking back I am very happy with the progress I made myself and more importantly, the progress we made as a team.