Art, science, joy and success with Stefan Stefanovic

Our company name originated from our values. Always striving towards the north and not looking south. We value the power of transparency and open communication since we believe only with this kind of agile approach we can achieve our goals. Collaborating with startups and mid-sized businesses helped us locate the biggest bottlenecks in time-to-market delivery. Since then, we channelled our focus towards adapting our engineers and teams into remote environments and onboarding high-performing individuals with multiple years of experience. If things go sideways, don’t worry, with us holding the compass, you’re on the right path.

Time to meet the Web Developer at Nortik Software Solutions, Stefan!

Why did you join Nortik, and what has kept you here?

What drew me to Nortik was its great company values (everybody loves programming here) and culture, and good team spirit. On the first day of work at Nortik, we didn't even talk about technology, we talked like friends. And from that day on we (the team) usually eat lunch together and get to know each other more, while giving our brains a little bit of rest from algorithms :)

That kind of vibe is what kept me there. Besides that, we are free to choose in which way we personally would like to develop, and there is good support from leaders, with resources and organization to make that happen.

A day at Nortik

In your opinion, what are the hallmark traits of a great Web Developer?

There are many important aspects of development, but besides the obvious which is technical knowledge, I think the most important traits would be: The drive and openness to continually learn and adapt, the ability to navigate changes and challenges and come up with effective solutions, great communication and teamwork, persistence to complete even the most challenging tasks (often times these can be the most rewarding in terms of learning and experience), and of course great time and task management.

I could write a blog post on why each of these traits is important, but let's keep this answer concise and to the point :)

How do you define success in life?

This is an interesting question and it's the one I think about a lot. I define success as a state. A state of being happy, healthy, calm and balanced. I've come to the conclusion that only when in this kind of state we are able to give our best and be more productive.

Oftentimes, something that would take a couple of days of struggle, can be solved with a couple of happy hours. Because when at that state we have better ideas and more motivation to act on them. Also only when we are in this state can we truly show ourselves to others and try to help them to achieve the same thing, by leading through example.

How do you describe your work personality vs. your home life personality?

They are no different. I believe that we should always show our true core, no matter the circumstance.

Of course, when it comes to communication, there are many different types of people and situations, no one style can fit them all. But what I mean by the core is words and methods of communication can change to adapt to the current situation, maybe we will use a bit more professional or adapted vocabulary, or a little bit different vibe, but the core message, i.e. personality should stay the same.

Sunset and self-reflection :)

If you could meet anyone in the world dead or alive who would it be and why?

There are so many great people I would like to meet! But if I had to pick only one, that would be Leonardo Da Vinci. I find his approach and the broad field of exploration that he flew over during his lifetime simply amazing. It's fascinating how among other things he explored both art and science, and not only explored, he was one of the greatest in history.

So many people say "I'm a scientist, I don't do arts", and the other way around (*laughs*) but I see no separation between these worlds. There is no science without art, there is no art without science, and that's why I would like to meet a person who looked at these fields holistically as such.

Why did you choose to build a career in programming?

Since childhood I was interested in crafts, in how things are made, what are they made from. I broke my toys and put them back together again. I was interested in components, and how they fit with each other.

Later on, I started getting interested in economics, and management. I started looking beyond individual components and their relationships and more and more into the systems that they were forming, the structures, the hierarchies and the organization.

At one point or another, I discovered code and programming, and as soon as I peeked under that hood, I was blasted away. I realized that it combines all of my different areas of interest, it had components, that can be as general or as specific as your heart desires, it had relationship management, creation and implementation of systems, the organization and structure of data, and logical problem solving that connects it all together. At that point, I knew that I found my passion.

Get to know Stefan and the rest of the Nortik Software Solutions team!

We’re delighted that Stefan decided to join Nortik Software Solutions – it’s been great having them on board! If you have any questions or want to get to know Stefan or one of their colleagues from the Nortik Software Solutions team, we can put you in touch. Don’t hesitate to reach out!