Jullia Birsan

How was the {Dev}School experience?

When I first heard about {Dev}School two years ago, I was looking for a career shift and I wanted to start programming in Java. This is how I found out and I applied for {Dev}School immediately. I was lucky enough to be selected and to participate in the training sessions that helped me develop my Java skills, make new friends and learn new things from the best trainers.

I have previously experienced other courses, with different topics, but {Dev}School was really a hands-on training session and what I loved the most was that the theory was always explained through exercises, live coding and good examples. The trainers had patience with us, helped each of us when needed and kept the things as simple as possible in order to make even the most difficult things crystal clear.

Afterwards, ING gave me the chance to became part of the team.

What does {Dev}School offer to a student?

I would recommend {Dev}School from the bottom of my heart to any student that would like to apply, because it is the most hands-on training session that will help him understand the basics of a programming language faster than he/she would expect. It’s also a good place to meet great people, to exchange ideas and knowledge, basically to get prepared for a future career.

How’s life at ING?

I am part of the Home’Bank team, which is the most beautiful team I have ever met. Life at the 14th floor is vibrant, with a beautiful view of Bucharest, with nice and kind people around me.

I like that each time I need help, there is at least one colleague willing to help me, and I have the chance to learn from the best developers.

We also have a lot of fun together while meeting clients’ expectations; every break ends with a ping-pong match or a Xbox game. From awesome teambuildings and  international hackathons, to conferences and workshops, ING is an important part of my personal and professional development.

Home’Bank is itself a big project and a great learning experience about how complex the banking system is.

During my ING experience, I have been a mentor for interns. I loved this role because it was an opportunity to learn how to transfer knowledge, help them learn and develop ones skills and how to make myself understandable. Mentoring is a highly rewarding experience.

How would you explain your role in ING to a 10-year-old?

Imagine you have a lot of Lego pieces, different kinds, different colors, let’s build the our favorite place to be: home. Before starting, you have to think about the architecture: how the house should look like, how many windows, how many doors, what color should the walls be, if you want a garage or not. After completing this step, you need to pick up the right pieces for the foundation, select the pieces for the walls and structure and the ones for the roof. Sequentially place each piece in the right order on top of the other pieces. At the end, test the resistance of the house, the doors and the windows and further, after the testing phase, the house will be ready to shelter a family.

This is how software development is done, as long as you have an architecture and  correct Lego pieces, you can build anything you imagine.

If you were to save the world with an app…

I would save the world with an application that is able to prevent diseases and treat ill people.

Just think about it, wouldn't it be nice to have a device able to save someone from having a heart attack? Or maybe an app able to tell you that your sitting posture is not right and in time it may cause you back problems?

Or a  device that’s capable of calling someone in case of health emergency.

Let’s say you wrote your first SF book. What would you call it?

Beyond Robotization

Describe in just 5 words the most recent picture in your phone.

I’ll use 6 words: there is no place like home.