Day in the Life: Montana, Java Developer at Picnic
Discover how Montana, a Java Developer at Picnic, works on the Recipes side of the app, helping to maintain functionality and implement new features. From reviewing PRs and collaborating with colleagues to attending design sessions, Montana shares her approach to development and teamwork. She also enjoys unwinding with her cat and engaging in creative hobbies like drawing and knitting after work.
Name: Montana
Job: Java Developer
What does a Java Developer do at Picnic?
As a Java Developer at Picnic, I focus on the Recipes side of our app. I help maintain the functionality, as well as design and implement new features alongside the rest of my team!
Here’s what a day in Montana's life looks like!
8-9AM:
I am an early bird, so I am normally in the office around 8 - but not quite working yet. Our office has a cantina with breakfast and staffed barista bar, so during this hour, I enjoy some yogurt, fruit, and coffee downstairs while catching up on the news.
9-10AM:
Still early enough that I don't normally have meetings yet, I get some nice focus time to start my day. Today, that means catching up on reviewing my teammate's PRs for a new recipes feature we are working on - as well as writing this post :)
10-11AM:
For the first meeting of today, I will be helping onboard two other developers to our recipe infrastructure, so they can support on our current project, and be set up for success to take up future work as well. My tech lead and the recipe product owner will also join to provide context wherever they can.
11AM-12PM:
I get some more coding time, before our daily stand-up at 11:30. Our standup meetings are 15 minutes; with only important updates and highlights shared - larger discussions are taken offline. This way, everybody stays to stay up-to-date without taking up too much in people's calendars, so we can all get the time we need for our own projects!
12-1PM:
Lunch time, which we normally take as a team in the office cantina, where the kitchen staff prepares a delicious warm lunch every day, supplemented with salads and vegan options. After lunch, sometimes I take a walk outside or play a bit of ping pong with colleagues.
1-2PM:
Sometimes I have 1:1s or project-specific meetings, but today, my afternoon is pretty clear! Since I reviewed PRs in the morning, I will use this time to work on my own code changes. While my main task is on backend Java development, I also get opportunities to learn frontend, so I will do a little bit of both.
2-3PM:
My afternoon is still free, so I will take a quick break to stretch, get some water, maybe take a short walk if I didn't take one after lunch; and then, back at it!
3-4PM:
I run our team's retrospective, so I have most of this hour blocked to check up on the different improvement initiatives that we are running. I see if anybody is needing support, and whether they will have anything to present in the next session.
4-5PM:
Since I focus on recipes, I also attend design and brainstorm sessions for recipe features that I will not work on. I will be attending such design session today, so we can make sure our new features are fitting nicely into the vision for our recipe architecture.
5-6PM:
I'll head home, hang out with my cat, and maybe draw for a bit.
How do you unwind at the end of the day?
I've got a very cuddly cat at home (who makes frequent appearances in my video calls when I work from home), so at the end of my workday I normally spend time with him and engage in my creative hobbies like drawing or knitting.
What do you love about your job and your employer?
I get to work every day with an energetic group of people on a wide array of different topics (not ALWAYS recipes!). The people I work with, and the collaborative environment that is created here, is easily what I love the most.
Curious about the career opportunities at Picnic? Follow Picnic to get notified about the next HerFuture x Picnic event, or check out open jobs here!
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