Meet Nazar, who Walked a Path from Trainee to Senior Software Engineer at ElifTech

Nazar Hopchak has been working at ElifTech since the beginning. For these six years, he has reached the position of a senior software engineer. Among the teammates, Nazar has a reputation as a responsible, intelligent, and level-headed person you can always count on. He has been with the company through highs and lows, has been present at all the corporate parties and at multiple significant projects. We call him a knowledge-keeper of ElifTech history: should you be willing to learn any facts about ElifTech, go to Nazar. If Nazar doesn’t know — no one knows. By the way, a patent for the invention of the company name ElifTech belongs to Nazar.

To find out more about Nazar’s impact and evolution at ElifTech, keep on reading.

Nazar in the office setting, all attention to coding.

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

I happened to be present at the very beginnings of ElifTech’s history. We got acquainted with the CEO, Anatoliy, as I was advancing my career by taking a course on some IT technologies in another company. I even received a job offer from that company. Still, the conversation that I had with Anatoliy changed everything from the ground up.

Anatoliy shared his vision for his new company with me, and for some reason, I believed him so much! I remember I got so ignited by the thought of becoming a part of initiating something new and influencing the processes that are now in the core of the company. Did I mention that it was me who invented the name of the company? (smiling).

Of course, back then my decision to refuse a job offer and follow a brand new company was quite risky, but I trusted my guts. And I have never regretted it ever since. Besides, Anatoliy was our mentor back then, and man, I had so much fun working with him!

How has ElifTech helped you in your career development?

From the onset, the company has guided me along the way, and it keeps on opening new opportunities for me. Through all these years, I had a chance to try myself in many different roles and learn the IT business from different angles.

I did coding, worked on numerous projects, helped our business development team with the engagement and pre-sale, initiation of the discovery phase, creation of architectures for the brand new products, etc. I appreciate how the company met me halfway whenever I wanted to take more responsibilities.

Once I was even a crisis manager on one of the technologically complex projects and managed to align the work of multiple multinational vendors and teams. Eventually, we successfully delivered a full-fledged system to our customer. Perhaps, my proudest moment!

Hard to believe, but here, I walked my path from an inexperienced junior to the senior level!

In your opinion, what are the hallmark traits of a great software engineer?

I guess there should be a nice combo of tech and soft skills. Among soft skills, I would outline attention to the details, flexibility, and the capacity to quickly master new things as long as the technologies evolve at a high pace.

I cannot stress enough how important is the ability to step into the shoes of your customer. And of course, you should be a team player who can get along with your colleagues. Success in IT is about being a star team and not a team of stars.

The team. Nazar works for the longest in the company and knows everything and everyone at ElifTech.

What’s your next step, or a few goals you’d like to accomplish in life, or while with ElifTech?

Though ambitious it might sound, I'd like to travel even more and visit all the countries in this world!

Of course, I keep on moving further in my professional career. I'm currently more interested in taking leadership roles. For now, we're considering a position of staff engineer for me. And in the future, I wouldn't mind becoming a CTO (smiling).

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

Before this COVID-19 pandemic, my main hobby was traveling.

The last place I’ve been to was Amsterdam, and I remember how in Spring 2020, I was urged to break my journey a week earlier than expected and get back home before the borders would close. Luckily, life is slowly getting back on track now.

We also have a very unique perk at ElifTech. Once a year, our company organizes a remote office abroad, in which our team works from a foreign country for a month or so. I haven’t missed any of these. So far, we’ve already been to Thailand, Malaysia, Cyprus, Sri Lanka...excited for what comes next.

Once a year the ElifTech crew goes to the remote office. That time, it was Greece.

When are you the happiest?

Hmm… I think it’s when you get something finished. A project or any kind of out-of-the-office achievement. It perhaps works with everything apart from traveling: it's always sad when a cool trip ends. Though it creates an opportunity for a new one (smiling).

Anyway, when you see the result of your efforts and the value it brings — it inspires.

Describe what you were like at age 10.

I was a calm and modest dude who was known for getting all A’s. Math was one of my favorites, but Human Studies appealed to me as well.

However, I remember how we as kids were exchanging questionnaires, and there I would always mention that I wanted to become a football or basketball player. Any boy’s daydream, no?

Do you have an office nickname? What is it?

Once, everyone at the office would call me an architect. At that time, I was fulfilling the role of the architect on our team.

Also, because I am the one who works for the longest here (if not to mention our CEO Anatoliy), some folks would joke that I’m the first brick of ElifTech. But luckily, this is not my nickname on a daily basis (laughing).

One of Nazar's trips. "Sky's the limit", and Nazar gets the vibe exploring the landscape of what is possible.

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

King Alfred the Great. He was a remarkable crisis manager of his time. Don't get me wrong, but how can one person build up the strongest state in the middle of constant raids of outlanders?

He developed military, education, laws and built a foundation for uniting feuding kingdoms into one strong empire. I'd like to get to know him better.

What's your motto or personal mantra?

A Latin aphorism: “Panta Rei”, which means everything flows, everything changes. It perfectly applies to both work and personal life.

Another expression that resonates with me is the one that my friend often mentions: “the sky is the limit”. For me, it means that you should always do something else to become a better version of yourself. Anything is possible.

Get acquainted with Nazar and his teammates!

It is alleged that the employees working at the company from its very inception are of exceptional value. Nazar knows a lot about software engineering on the one hand, and about ElifTech values and history on the other. We’re super appreciative to have him on our crew. Should you be willing to talk to Nazar and discover more about ElifTech and his software development experience, connect with us, and we will gladly reach out to you.