At Xait, our Dev Team is made up of people of all ages and levels of experience. Teamwork is essential, but we also build and support individual contributors.
What do we expect from developers joining our team, and what can you expect working with us?
Let’s get granular.
The culture we're trying to build in our Dev Team
When you start working as a software developer at Xait, you will be a part of a growing team where we help, encourage, and lift each other up to reach the best results.
Our goal is to create a workplace culture where you feel ownership over what you do. As a developer with us, you are shaping our products, and you are shaping the way people all over the world work together.
This will give you the framework to grow, to evolve, to challenge, and to be challenged.
4 things we expect from you as a software developer
1. You are a problem solver
The first requirement for new developers at Xait is that they think for themselves. Since software development is essentially about solving problems, you must be a problem solver.
You will never hear me say, “This is the way you are going to solve this”. Instead, I will say: “Here's what we want solved, how will you do it?”
In other words, our goal is to achieve this particular outcome. What do you suggest we do to get there?
2. You don’t have a butts-in-seats mentality (and can self-manage)
At Xait, it's not how long you sit in front of your computer that matters, it's what you achieve.
If all you do every day is clock in at 8, write your daily share of code on autopilot, sit passively in on any status meeting, and then leave as soon as the clock strikes 4, then you will not fit in at Xait. We don’t operate with a butts-in-seats culture.
I don't mean we expect you to work 24/7, or even beyond the normal working hours. But while you are at work, you contribute. Not with your fingers typing on the keyboard, but with your head and creativity.
I hire people because they are better at solving software problems than me. That's why I expect you to deal with problems proactively.
Sure, if you are junior level and come straight from university, we accept more questions than if you are senior level. However, as you gain experience, we expect you to work more and more independently.
It's your responsibility to do your own work, there will be no one to do it for you.
3. You welcome feedback
Every great developer wants to grow and get better at their craft. You've got to get feedback and constructive criticism to do that.
In our Dev Team, when a senior developer has something to say, you listen. Seniors aren't necessarily older than you, but they have more experience in the field you are about to enter. They probably know more about the specific problem or area of expertise than you do, so be humble – and listen to them.
I have a principle I adhere to, which is: “Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t.” This rule applies to all dev teams, and it’s a ground rule at Xait’s Dev Team.
In essence, this principle instructs you to go into every conversation believing that you have something to learn.
When two members of the Dev Team meet each other with the attitude that "He knows something I don't", then there is a humility that makes the team work. If both of them come to work with a "I don't have anything to learn from you" attitude, then we will be stuck in our existing ways..
It's crucial for a dev team to have people who are open to new ideas, even if they are already experts within their domain.
4. You have a desire for continuous self-improvement
As software developers, we have to stay current in the technologies and domains we work in. It may be a cliché, but in knowledge and IT work, every day on the job is a day at school. That’s why you need a continuous learning mindset to succeed as a developer at Xait.
New tools, methodologies, and practices are introduced every day in software development – making the industry constantly evolving. As a developer, you must also constantly evolve – and we expect you to do so.
Also, we expect you to share your knowledge and expertise with your teammates to help them grow, much like other developers helped you grow.
What can you expect as a member of our Dev Team?
With Xait, you are a part of a relatively small and compact company where your voice will be heard. The work you do will have a real impact – both on the overall growth of the company and on the working lives of our clients. You are not just one of many, and your contribution makes a difference. Every day.
We don’t like ‘featuritis’...
We are proud of the software functionality we build. People around the world rely on our solutions to solve some of their most pressing business challenges. However, we never develop new features just for the sake of adding them.
It would be simple to build lots of new functionality and "bells and whistles" that would be easy to sell if we only wanted to grow as a company and boost our revenue in the short term. For example, we could spend a lot of time and energy developing features for our top four or five clients, resulting in a huge upsell. But that’s not a sustainable business strategy.
Instead, features and functionality serve as means to an end: Here is the value we want our client to get – what features should we develop to make it happen?
As we continue to develop innovative products and improve the way people work together, we must always think about the value we want to create for our clients. How do we improve the workday of our customers?
As a developer at Xait, you will have the freedom to solve problems that will make our products even more valuable to our clients. You will not be micromanaged or told how to achieve a particular outcome. The only thing we ask is that you develop with security and quality in mind and focus on our customers.
That's your freedom, and that's your responsibility.
Interested in joining the team? Connect here.
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