Kenny Nguyen

23/01/24

People

Baptism of fire to structured induction

Codeweavers not only talks about fostering a culture of learning and growth but actively invests in it, as shown with the Academy and Kaizen time. As I write this, I feel better equipped to deliver at a higher level, and I can confidently say that Codeweavers' commitment to its employee's growth is more than talk – it's a reality I am living.

The Start of My Career at Codeweavers 

My background being that of a software tester for a digital gambling games company and joining Codeweavers in 2019 as a QA (Quality Assurance) Engineer. I did not know what to expect when entering the auto finance sector at an office with over 50 employees. Certainly, I needed to fully appreciate how different the role of QA would be compared to a tester who followed test scripts on a day-to-day basis. 

Initially, I worked alongside the Head of QA, who showed me the ropes and the daily tasks that a typical QA would perform. He also shared the aims of what the QA team should strive to be, one element of which was to be quality coaches, ensuring that processes are met and that developers continually raise standards by following testing best practices. 

Induction Streamlining: Overcoming Initial Challenges 

At the time, there wasn’t a well-defined or structured induction process but more of a best-effort ad-hoc approach. At one point, I was dependent on a senior developer's availability (from a completely different team) to show me the technologies that Codeweavers use and how the code was deployed to production. The dependency caused me to have to wait a while. In my opinion, a structured plan could have reduced wasted time. 

Not long after the (baptism of fire) process began, I was placed into a sizeable team halfway through a large project; at this time, it felt like a sink or swim. I was fortunate to be paired with several QA team members in rotation, who guided me through the busy project. Nonetheless, I got my head down and saw the project through to its conclusion. At the time, I felt much more challenged at Codeweavers compared to my previous roles. I’m still incredibly happy to be at Codeweavers as I continue to learn new things about web development. 
 
Fast forward to August 2023, with the company growing to over 100 employees and remote working now being the norm, I was working on a project migrating end-to-end automation tests from one testing tool to another. While pairing with various developers, my passion for coding grew! When I graduated from university, I wasn’t confident in my coding abilities, followed by being unable to land a junior developer role. Hence, I ended up in a manual testing role where coding was forgotten. 

Investing in Growth: Codeweavers’ Commitment to Development 

Following conversations about career progression, I was offered the chance to join the induction programme. It is worth mentioning that Codeweavers have significantly invested in the induction program and the Academy, actively encouraging growth. I’ll also add that many people have been employed in one department, have been supported to follow their passion and switched roles in other parts of the business. Another example of encouraging growth is that Friday afternoons are dedicated to Kaizen time. This is where people can research and experiment with skills and topics that will benefit them or their teams in their day-to-day work. 

At the beginning of September 2023, I began the first structured induction programme with six new starters. There are 3 placement students, 2 School of Coders, 1 Senior backend developer and myself. This would mark a planned induction intended to provide a broad introduction and foundation in topics like soft skills, industry knowledge, lean and learning organisations, and key engineering skills and techniques. The subjects and topics are delivered by subject matter experts via interactive workshops that encourage training and active learning. The foundation section is over eight weeks, finishing with a 2 weeklong, real production-level project that will enable us to practice and showcase the skills we have gained in the programme. The aim is that the cohort will be far better prepared than in the past and confidently join their teams. 

In Conclusion 

I find Codeweavers to be a dynamic and growing company where I was challenged and nurtured in my growth. From an initial baptism of fire to a well-structured induction programme, I have developed a deeper passion for coding and a stronger skill set. Codeweavers not only talks about fostering a culture of learning and growth but actively invests in it, as shown with the Academy and Kaizen time. As I write this, I feel better equipped to deliver at a higher level, and I can confidently say that Codeweavers' commitment to its employee's growth is more than talk – it's a reality I am living.   

Interested in joining the Codeweavers team? Check out our latest job openings on our careers page. 

Kenny Nguyen

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