What is your name and position at Zammad?
Dusan Vuckovic, Senior Software Developer.
What are you known for?
Certain problem-solving capabilities, I guess. My personal knowledge spans a wide range of areas, which is handy when trying to find a way forward. Add a sprinkle of experience on top, and there is literally nothing I would shy away from, as many can attest.
What are you working on right now?
On a next-gen app to elevate the customer support experience and make it accessible to everyone. All the while learning about exciting new technologies on the job – you can’t beat that.
What new things have you learned on the job lately?
Did you know Zammad has geocoding capabilities? It can transform postal addresses into geographic coordinates, and vice versa. The data is encapsulated within the user objects; you just need to provide the address information, and it will take care of the rest. However, the subsystem is a bit underused at the moment and is literally begging for new use cases.
What motivates you every morning?
Looking forward to see what the day brings. Sometimes the existing problems resolve by themselves and I’m just a passenger. And sometimes you have to interfere. But generally, I just enjoy being on the ride. 😁
What do you love most about remote work? (And what not so much?)
The quiet and flexibility. Creativity cannot always be forced, and being able to change your surroundings at any moment is a very powerful tool. The downside is probably the physical loneliness most of the time. However, I can always jump on a call if I feel the need for some human interaction.
How do you manage to break out of your everyday routines?
By aiming to have at least one "side-quest" during the week – a project that I want to work on even though it may not seem very important. It might be something very obscure that only I’m passionate about at the time, or it might be a future base for many open-source projects out there.
What does your desk look like?
Do you have a passion that wouldn't be obvious from your CV?
Amateur astronomy! I love being under the stars with whatever equipment I have on hand, be it just a trusty set of binoculars or the old pair of eyes. The Universe is amazing, and all it takes to get to know it better is to literally just watch it.
What do you think makes really good teamwork?
Having each other's backs. It means relying on others without even having to ask, knowing that they will step in if needed. It does require a lot of work in laying down the basics and maintaining great communication, but it sure is helpful and makes achieving goals that much easier and less stressful.
You have 1,000 unread messages and only time to respond to 50. How do you decide?
If I ever find myself with such a high number of unhandled messages, it could only mean one thing: I’m either permanently offline (e.g., departed, expired, no more) or the messages are simply not important. So, "Select All > Mark as Read" would be my approach, and then I would just go about the rest of my day.
What two career tips do you have?
First: Don’t let things affect you on a personal level; strive to remain professional and clear-headed.
Second: Always work on yourself. Never stop learning and improving your skills.
How do you explain your job to your parents?
You know all that time I "wasted" on computers when I was young? It turns out, you can make a living from it; it just takes a bit of luck. 🙃