Meet Gordana, a Protégé that Became a Mentor at Web Factory

Gordana Badarovska a.k.a Gorde is an iOS software engineer in our team, lately she is focusing on becoming a Flutter guru, seeing it as a promising new technology to replace native mobile apps development. Coming from the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies with a passion for mobile technologies, she sees Web Factory as a place for growth, fun, flexible and irreplaceable. Let’s read more about her story before and at Web Factory.

What are 3 words to describe Web Factory?

Fun. Friendly. Flexible.

The first word that popped in my head when I read this question was fun. The people and culture that make up this company, really make it a fun place to work at. When it comes to work, we work on many different projects, in different teams and with different clients, so the work itself is never boring.

Fun and friendly really go hand in hand. If you need some help or advice when working on something, you just need to ask. There is always someone happy to help. If you want to talk about your cat endlessly, and share photos of your fur baby, we have a special channel for that.

You can go biking on the weekend, or grab a cocktail with your colleagues on Friday nights. And the company is pretty flexible when it comes to working hours, vacation days or anything else you may need. So from the projects I have worked on to Beer Fridays I can truly say that I have enjoyed working at Web Factory the past 5 years.

What has been your favorite project at Web Factory?

There have been so many projects. This is one of the things I love about working in an outsourced software development company. Every project and client is different and this makes the work very dynamic. You get to expand your knowledge a lot, because every project has different requirements, but you also get to work with different colleagues and get to know them better.

I’m gonna break the rules of this question and pick two projects that stand out in my mind.

The first one would have to be my first project I worked on. This project has gone through many stages and it’s still ongoing. Aside from the fact that it was my first big project, what made it special was some of the interesting features like VoIP calls.

This is something that you rarely get to work on. The other thing I love about this project is the long cooperation we have with the clients and the trust we’ve built. It’s easy to work on a project, where the team is very mature, and has a deep knowledge and understanding of the platform we are building.

The other project I loved was a meditation app I worked on last year. Great design, cool animations and a lot of audio and video editing, which is also something you don’t always get to work with. There were a lot of obstacles during the development, but the end result looked great.

Gordana at Web Factory’s 10th birthday party

What advice do you have for prospective Web Factory candidates?

This will sound like such a cliché, but I believe that it is a cliché for a reason: Just be yourself. This is the best way to make sure that you are the right cultural fit for our company and our company is the right fit for you.

What are your primary responsibilities and what does your day-to-day look like?

Primarily, I am an iOS developer, so my day-to-day mostly consists of responsibilities I have for the project I am working on. I usually start my day with a big cup of coffee and a daily meeting with the team where we discuss the previous day, and any challenges we may have.

We work together to find the best solution and create great software. If I have an intern, or I’m working with a junior developer, I usually spend some time with them in the morning and we talk about how to write “swifty” code.

After my morning meetings I can finally get to working on some tasks and writing some code. If I am not working on a project, I spend my time catching up to the latest things in iOS, or I’m learning a new technology, like (at the moment) trying to become a Flutter master.

Hiking in Macedonia with the colleagues

Do you have any hobbies, go-to weekend activities, or long-term passion projects you’re working on?

Traveling, dancing and reading are the things I enjoy the most. Unfortunately, in the last year, we could not travel, but that has not stopped me from planning. I love reading about the places I want to visit, and making travel plans.

My travel list may have gotten quite long, and I can't wait to cross some places off of it. I also can’t wait to go back to my dance classes. I love latin dances, especially salsa and bachata. The last year has been great for my reading list though. I’ve managed to clear quite a few books from my shelf. I love mystery thrillers with twist endings.

How do you balance your career at Web Factory and friends & family?

I don’t find it hard to balance my career and personal life. It is easy for me to find time for friends and family, because Web Factory has flexible working hours. I can always make my work schedule fit my needs and responsibilities outside of work.

Weekends are always reserved for friend gatherings and family dinners, but also I usually go for a cup of coffee with my friends a couple of times during the week. And of course vacation days are always spent traveling with friends.

Before working at Web Factory, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?

I haven’t really had a lot of different jobs in my life. I spent a summer working as a cashier at a water park in Florida. I met a lot of cool people, enjoyed Florida’s warm weather and beautiful beaches. It was a great experience and I loved it.

Shortly after, I started as an iOS developer intern in a small company, and a few months later I started working in Web Factory. From the first day I felt like I found my place and I’ve been there ever since. Now I can not imagine being something else other than a software developer.

We are all positively mad here, Gordana and her favorite sign. Modeling for our team page.

If you had to eat one meal, every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Pasta! All day, every day! I am that person that orders the one pasta dish in a seafood restaurant.

What's your favorite quote, or motto?

My life motto is pretty simple: Life is what you make it. And I always try to make the best of it. I am an optimist at heart that always tries to find the bright side in everything. If life was a movie, I’d be the person that says “This is not that bad. It could be worse. It could be raining”.

What is the best vacation you’ve been to?

My favorite place I’ve been to is Madrid. One of my friends was living there at the time and a couple of friends and I went to visit him. He knew the city very well and showed us all the best places. Sunny weather, late sunsets and sangria. What more can you ask for? I spent only a few days there, but I just fell in love with the city.

What are your three most overused words/phrases?

When I read this question I was sure I overused some words, but I could not think of some. Then I asked my friends and all of my friends said I use “ACTUALLY” a lot. So I really must use it a lot.

You are still thinking about iOS, Android, or Flutter?

Seek no more, Gordana has the right answers for you. We at Web Factory are always reaching to try and work with the latest technologies. This is the case with Gordana and with all the members at the team. We encourage and make the environment for personal and professional development. Reach out to us if you are interested to hear more!