Meet Jackie Aldama, Implementation Engineer at Nuxeo. A software engineer at heart, she not only writes code but also understands business goals and converts them into requirements, designs and eventually into an implementation plan.
Here’s her story.
Q: Tell us a little about yourself and your work prior to joining Nuxeo.
I studied Computer Science at Boston University while working in Information Technology and eventually software development. Software development has been a passion of mine for a long time that actually began when I decided to take a basic computer programming class as a kid. I didn’t own a computer until I was in high school but I remember doing my homework on paper - yes, literally writing HTML and Java classes in my notebook - until I could buy my own laptop, which ended up being a super heavy (around 12 lbs) Toshiba with a 15” screen. I’ve worked primarily in New England as a Java and Web Developer and my first, and probably still favorite, programming language is Perl although I should probably brush up on my regex skills :)
Q: What do you like best about working here?
There are honestly so many reasons why I love working at Nuxeo. Nuxeo is built with some of the greatest and brightest minds I’ve met. Everyone’s focus and genuine interest is really contagious and fun to be around. The distributed nature of the company allows Nuxeo to grow teams of people from all over with vastly diverse skillsets and experience. The Content Services Platform itself has been so fun to learn because it’s built with solid software engineering principles and can be extended in so many ways that there is always something new to explore.
Q: What does your role as an Implementation Engineer entail? What does a typical work day look like?
My role is project based so every day is different! Some days I have a bunch of technical work I need to whip out, like building a custom package for a client, debugging and bug fixing, front-end work, or things like performance testing, analysis, and tweaking. I’m also spending a bit of time learning more about cloud infrastructures. Where my background has been more of a traditional software engineer, I am also fine tuning skills required for professional services and consulting. Taking and understanding business goals and converting them into requirements, designs and eventually into an implementation plan is what I have less formal experience with but really have fun working on. The best part is I can be part of the implementation after the planning and actually do the configuration or write the code! I find this role to be the best of both worlds and it provides a great balance between business and technical work.
Q: Have you received any comments or feedback from clients about the platform which you found interesting?
I’ve had a few candid conversations with clients about how powerful our platform is and how impressed they are with its extensibility. Watching users’ engagement and interactions with the platform, though, has been the most interesting experience. Even non-technical users see the potential, with some minor configurations, that could make their lives so much easier. I think it’s really important that we have a platform that is highly flexible but also user-friendly. Our new user interface (Web UI) is a great step up to maintaining just that. What I’ve seen while watching users interact with the platform is an example of how actions can speak louder than words.
Q: How do you like to spend your free time?
Although I do have some hobby code and enjoy the occasional video game (Guitar Hero, Age of Empires), I spend most of my free time outside. I used to be a really avid all-season hiker but over the past few years I’ve grown more and more interested in climbing and alpinism. Last year I climbed Mt. Rainier and Mt. Shuksan in Washington state. These were relatively easy climbs that required endurance and glacier travel skills. I have some more interesting goals in mind that I’m working on the skillset for - This Spring I will be spending some time in the Canadian Rockies climbing some of the most classic ice routes in North America. I’m so excited! I also am a volunteer ski patroller in Vermont. You have to go through pretty extensive training to be in ski patrol - similar to EMT, but with an outdoor emergency care focus - and it is quite rewarding to be able to help people in various types of scenarios.
