What does a Software Developer do at msg life Slovakia? Michal will tell you

Michal’s career as a software developer started during his master’s studies. Two years ago he decided to change jobs. What attracted him to work at msg life Slovakia was not only the financial evaluation, but also the human approach. He enjoys assignments where he can fully realize his potential and appreciates flexibility in working hours.

How long have you been with msg life Slovakia?

“In September this year it was two years since I joined the company.”

What job were you recruited for?

“I was recruited as a software developer for the actuarial field.”

How did you get into programming?

“I got into programming at university. After my secondary school-leaving exam, I had to choose whether I wanted to study management or IT. I was given a unique opportunity to personally talk to the dean of the Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies of the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava about the opportunities offered by the faculty, and I finally chose it. Even though I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in the future, I got a job as a salesforce developer while I was still studying for my master’s degree. That’s where my career as a software developer began. A year after school I joined msg life Slovakia.”

What attracted you to working at msg life Slovakia? Why did you choose us?

“I was approached by a staffing company with multiple Java developer offers. I was still employed at the time, but I decided to make a change. What convinced me the most, besides the salary, was the fact that it was a much smaller company and not a corporation. Plus, all the other offers were too process-driven and I felt like they cared more about the company than the people.”

How is working for us different from previous work experience?

“In my previous job I had a good team, but I didn’t know people outside it. Actually, I didn’t know anyone closely. Here, I have a good team and I know most of my colleagues personally.”

What does your normal working day look like?

“I usually have quiet working days. In the morning I have breakfast, have a cup of coffee and chat with my colleagues. Then I go through my emails and start working on the tasks I have planned in advance. Of course there is a break for lunch and afternoon coffee. If I need to switch off my head, I go to the company gym or book a massage. Occasionally a meeting appears on the calendar. Sometimes the days are a little more challenging: a problem arises that needs to be addressed and fixed urgently. That’s when I have to leave my work and scheduled tasks aside and get straight to the problem. What happens then is that I don’t get to finish my scheduled stuff. Fortunately, such days are few.”

What is your job? What are you currently working on?

“I am currently working on an internal project. My task is to work on a component for msg.Life Factory. I detect and correct found or reported errors, and implement requirements. We create this component from scratch, configure it and set up its development environment. However, I also do problem-solving analysis, that is, I find out what options exist to solve specific problems. I am also tasked with analysing ways to migrate data.”

Who do you communicate with at work and solve problems?

“I am working on this internal project with two colleagues in Bratislava and a team leader in Germany. Sometimes I also communicate with the project architect, who is also from Germany. We report bugs internally as we don’t have testers. On a previous project, I also communicated with testers who reported bugs to us in Jira.”

What project are you working on right now?

“I am working on an internal IAM – Identity Access Management project. It’s basically a project to create a security component for our product.”

Do you have experience with other projects within msg life Slovakia?

“Yes, I worked on a ZVK project, it was a project for two German insurance companies that used a very similar system to manage their insurance.”

What apps and programs do you use at work?

“I mostly use Java and Eclipse. I use Maven for code development and my apps run on Jboss and Wildfly.”

What skills or knowledge are important for your job?

“As a developer, I definitely need to have knowledge of Java, and of course also knowledge of databases and SQL. On a previous project I needed German, currently I’m using more English. In addition, precision and analytical thinking are also important.”

What do you like and dislike most about your work?

“I like our benefits, I go to the gym regularly and get massages. Currently at the home office I miss our coffee very much. Flexibility in working hours, teambuilding and language courses are also important to me, currently the courses are online.”

What are your colleagues like?

“My colleagues are cool, they are happy to help and some of them are also active in sports. When we have time, we go for a run or sign up for a sporting event, and that makes me very happy..”

What qualities should your new colleague have to fit in?

“They should be kind, patient, helpful, communicative. We are a good team here, it is not difficult to fit in.”

3 words that come to mind when you hear msg life Slovakia?

“Gym. Approach. Insurance.”

Are you interested in Michal’s work?

Do you have experience with Java programming and do you enjoy mathematics? See our latest job offers in IT development:

• Java Developer Senior
• Software Migration Engineer