What's your job about?
I work as a Software Engineer at Vista Group, developing software to contribute towards the cinema-to-customer experience. In my team, my work focusses on the Lumos products, particularly Lumos Kiosk, Mobile and Web.
A usual day starts off with attending a few team meetings discussing progress on tasks currently being worked on. From there, we then continue with the work discussed in those initial meetings. This work can involve fixing internal bugs, implementing new features for the Lumos products or reviewing pull requests from other developers. Some days can involve several meetings involving the discussion of new features with the team’s BA (Business Analyst) and designers while other days I spend more time getting into the nitty gritty of development. Once I’ve completed a task, I prepare a build and have it ready to be tested by our team’s tester to ensure that the outcome received is what is expected.
I’ve spent a lot of time in my team learning. Previously, I had not been exposed to working in an extensive code base like the one I work in currently, so I have learnt a lot from the developers around me (or even in other teams).
What's your background?
I grew up in Auckland. Throughout my time in high school, I always had an interest in digital technologies and loved the experience of creating things. Having had this interest, I naturally moved towards studying Computer Science. I completed my bachelor's degree majoring in Computer Science at the University of Auckland.
At the end of my second year in university, I was able to partake in the Vista Group Internship Programme (2022-2023) which allowed me to develop both technical and professional skills outside of university. This internship experience gave me more motivation to experiment with projects outside of my comfort zone which pushed me to participate in boot camps and hackathons during my final year in university. I joined Vista Group as a Graduate Software Engineer in 2024 as I enjoyed my previous experience with Vista.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes! An understanding of programming and new technologies is essential, but these skills can be learnt through other avenues besides university. In software development, it is always important to continue learning as the field is constantly changing. However, I will say that university helps with providing a structured foundation, from there the ability to problem solve and continuously learn is extremely important.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
The coolest thing about my job is the satisfaction of completing a new feature and seeing it function correctly (with no errors), this is especially satisfying if the feature was being worked on for a while with tedious bugs. Knowing that the work I do will eventually be used by users is very exciting.
What are the limitations of your job?
Due to the nature of the job, you do spend several hours sitting at the computer and staring at your screen. If you take a bit of time to look away from the screen and stand up occasionally, you can mitigate any physical injuries or using equipment that is more ergonomic to lessen the chances of developing pain. Another limitation of work is the lack of an office culture due to many teams working remotely.
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