Let’s meet one of our freshers who will be soon complete her one-year journey with DevRepublic: Pooja Sharma.
She proved each stage of her career that why she is fit for this role. And when Pooja is not working she loves to dance (she even won a dance competition for the Times of India newspaper!), loves to read novels and as the oldest child helps at home.

Pooja has been recognized as Employee of the Month July 2021! 

Can you introduce yourself?
Hi everyone! My name is Pooja, 22 years young 😊
I am working as a jr PHP/Laravel developer and about to complete my first year working at DevRepublic. In my first months I got training and now I am working on live projects.

What are your skills?
Being a PHP developer, my core expertise are PHP and PHP based framework like Laravel. At Database I can do work with MySQL. I do also have knowledge of HTML, CSS, and VueJs.

What do you like at working at DevRepublic?
As it was my first ever experience in working at any professional place, I feel so lucky of choosing Devrepublic as my future growth. Everyone here is so supportive and friendly. As a fresher, you have so many questions about everything and you are curious to know how all the things will be worked. And here I have got all the answers with full satisfaction. Each and everyone is always there to help you out and answering all my silly questions, too. I still thank myself for choosing Devrepublic as my growth partner. I wish to learn and grow more together.

What achievement are you proud off?
When I’ve joined here as a trainee, I haven't realized that I can do such hard things. Every day was a challenge for me to prove myself and make myself better, little appreciation like “good job” from my trainer was like a big achievement. And after receiving this EOM title, I somehow realized that I am succeeded and my hard work paid off. I could not describe this feeling in words. As it is a very big appreciation for me and this pushed me to do more hard work.

What is your dream, how do you see yourself in lets say 3-5 years
I want to learn at least one new thing every day and want myself to grow more and more. My dream is to be the best in everything I do. I can picture myself growing to the position I am working on. I feel the values of this organization can be advantageous to my career. In 3-4 years, I see myself utilizing my knowledge to yield better outcomes. These years would take me to a target where I can cherish the achievements along the road.

IT business does have less women then man working. What can you tell about that and what are your experiences?
According to me, It is not about men or women. It is about your skills and interests. IT sector pays for your skills and not for being a woman. And if we talk about men or women, I guess women are more likely to end up working with perfection😁

How does your working day look like? (you start with tea/ coffee? Then do a standup?
No, I don't drink any beverages. So my day starts directly with a Daily Scrum Meeting😁 Usually in Indian households, people are addicted with tea (milk tea), (at least two times a day- morning and afternoon). Which is not the case with me, since I don't drink it.
I had no addiction from childhood so I just directly start working on my tasks, I do communicate with team members during the day, we do solve our problems together/pickup our modules.

What is the difference working from home in Covid times versus from the office?
As I joined when the covid first wave was progressing, I have no experience of working from the office at all I don't know how it feels. But I can add that I miss meeting people, learn how to talk and behave in the corporate world, etc. Whereas working from home is so comfortable, Work-life balance is better, Less commute stress (city like Ahmedabad you will need 1/1.5 hour drive/public transport to reach 10/15 kms). It is location-independent. Sometimes when you have to sit longer for some work, it doesn’t an issue anymore since you are already at home. I think this may definitely help the company to hire people across India instead of only from cities of Gujarat or nearby states. Apart from work from home saves money too.

What do you like about working with Dutch people
I love to learn about different cultures and languages. As I haven’t got a chance of working with any Dutch yet but I really wish to get this opportunity, So far I receive good support from my Indian colleagues but I would love to work directly with my dutch colleagues in near future. I hope I may learn more about people, culture, “Food”, language/dialects, and places.

Anything Dutch you like? Sweets, cookies, flowers? Or something?
I have heard and read about tulips, cheese, windmills, canals, and bicycles facts of the Netherlands. And I really liked the idea of riding bicycles for daily use as personal vehicles (however difficult in a city like Ahmedabad).

What is the biggest difference from your point of view in Indian and Dutch culture?
Since I’ve no direct experience about working with a dutch colleague It’s difficult for me to answer it. Once I’ve some interaction with you guys over there, I’ll be happy to share my list of differences between our cultures.

Can you tell me little bit more about yourself, private. Any hobbies, sports, things you do in your free time?
One of my hobby is to Dance, which is my favorite activity too. I have taken training in a classical dance called "Bharatnatyam" for 5 years and I also know other various forms of dance. I have also won the dance competition of the "Times of India" newspaper at the city level (see attachment). Apart from this, I like to read novels, listen to music in my free time and help my mom in her work of managing the house, being eldest sibling I assist myyounger brothers and sisters.