Julien, a former student at Wild Code School Bordeaux in France who became a Backend developer at ManoMano, reveals his story!
From Shanghai to Bordeaux: a journey through the world of tech
Hello, Julien! Can you introduce yourself in a few words?
Hi, I'm a backend developer at ManoMano. I mainly code in Kotlin and Java but can also dive into React projects when needed.
You joined Wild Code School Bordeaux during the March 2018 session. What was your background before joining us?
I had worked for about 10 years in the video game industry as a game designer, mainly while living in Shanghai.
Throughout my career, I've become more and more interested in technical aspects.
After returning to France in 2017, I did one last mission in video games, and then I had the chance to retrain. I'd wanted to retrain as a programmer for some time.
Wild Code School: How are the post-training period and job-market reentry going?
What did you learn from your training at Wild Code School?
That all the work pays off!
I gave it my all during the training and found a job very easily afterwards.
Also, there's the human experience. I have good memories of our group and our instructor.
Where has your career path taken you since the end of your training?
When I left the course, I received several offers from companies that had come to meet us at the Wild.
I decided to join Audensiel, a small ESN, because they offered me a mission that matched what I was looking for in terms of challenges and technology.
A year later, ManoMano contacted me when the company was starting new projects in Java. Working for one of the few French "unicorns" on projects that were starting from scratch was an offer I couldn't turn down!
Today, you've been working as a backend developer at ManoMano for more than two years. Could you tell us more about your daily missions?
After working for over a year in the logistics team, which was responsible for relations with the warehouses where the "Shipped by Manomano" products are stored, I now work in the team that deals with the life cycle of the order.
My daily job is to implement new developments decided by the project managers to improve the experience of our customers and vendors.
I'm also responsible for fixing bugs and monitoring the different services that our team handles because we have to react immediately in the event of an incident.
In your opinion, is ManoMano a company that has taken the digital turn?
ManoMano has been a digital company from the very start.
ManoMano's strength is to have understood the opportunity of e-commerce in the DIY (Do It Yourself) segment before others.
What about IT and the renovation and housing sector?
Speaking of the digital revolution, have the renovation and housing sectors evolved with it? How?
I think they're starting to, yes, but we could go further.
For example, on housing renovation/redesign projects, the contributions of the 3D Web and augmented reality seem very pertinent for improving the customer experience.
What's more, in the case of thermal renovation of buildings, which is a hot topic at the moment, we could think of providing automated diagnostics using drones equipped with thermal cameras.
The contribution of digital technology could also be on the side of energy savings with automatic control of heating, for example.
But there's still a lot to be done in this field as well as in the field of home automation to improve the comfort of homes.
What are the most important criteria to consider when combining tech and renovation?
You need to take the time to learn about the tools that exist.
We can use digital products to plan and optimize our work.
For example, to optimize upstream the control of the heating and the location of radiators so that they consume the least amount of energy.
Final word: what are your future projects?
Let's get back to you! What are your plans for the future?
I'm still passionate about tech. I continue to learn new technologies and work to become an expert in my field—even if I admit that sometimes I miss the UX I used to practice in my former career... Anyway, I feel good at ManoMano.
If you could talk to your pre-training self, what would you say?
Shake off the stress! :-)
I joined Wild Code School after a period of unemployment, and I was under a lot of pressure to find work and support my family.
I didn't realize at the time that I was going to get several offers as soon as I finished the course. I didn't even have to go hunting. Several of the companies that came to meet us right at Wild Code School actually made me offers.
Thank you for all these answers! Do you have any final words for the Wilders?
You have a unique opportunity to change your career in a very promising field, so invest in it and stick with it. You won't regret it!
For me, attending Wild Code School was an incredible opportunity.
To find out more...
If, like Julien, you want to become a web developer, we invite you to visit our website.
- Our web development prep course to learn at your own pace
- Our web developer training page to get to the heart of the matter and learn full time
