Other than being known for his near-impossible-to-beat table tennis skills (and for holding a niche Guinness World Record), Benjamin is a talented and diligent iOS Engineer. In his daily life working on the JustPark app, he contributes to everything from major new features to making daily improvements and innovations.
Dive into Benjamin's day-to-day life at JustPark and learn more about one of our key team members' career journeys on his path to becoming an iOS Engineer:
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’ll describe myself as someone who is curious and passionate about learning things. I like learning random things and I’ll be honest, most of them are not important but I derive joy when I finally learn it.
I like dancing and listening to music. I've always wanted to try singing — I’m too not sure about how it will go but I always try. Also, I am a very good gamer but I mostly play FIFA online or with friends. To keep myself active, I play table tennis and go to the gym. It’s been my therapy most of the time.
What does a day in the life of an iOS Engineer look like?
Normally, I'm in a few meetings in the morning and then away coding in swift language. Close use of iOS devices for development and testing. Sometimes, I check for any crashes in the app and react based on the outcome. I also code review codes from other developers and provide feedback.
I spend the majority of my day battling with Xcode which is the main software for developing iOS apps. I say battling because the software’s functionality is so poor and I'm hoping Apple will do better in the future.
This is a typical day when I work from home but when I go to the office, I also like to enjoy the taste of Julie’s lunches as well as spend time with work colleagues and play table tennis in the office.
What would you say your biggest accomplishment was this year, both personally and professionally?
The biggest accomplishment for me this year was contributing majorly to implementing the CarPlay app, InstantBook and recently the Mini Cards in the iOS app.
Honestly, this is both my professional and personal accomplishment because I had a personal goal of getting better at this coding thing which I believe I accomplished this year.
How did you get into engineering?
I studied Electrical and Electronics Engineering at university, but after graduation job offers were not forthcoming and the following year was the 2020 lockdown.
I used the opportunity to start learning programming online from Udemy to YouTube and back to Udemy. I studied and practised day and night. To be honest, there was not much to do in lockdown so I was very focused.
I finally got my first job which taught me a lot of things and from there till now; there have been lots of lessons to be learned.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I really enjoy playing sports like table tennis and going to the gym. I shuffle between events and activities from time to time.
Who inspires you?
I probably don’t get inspired by just one person. I get inspired by various people in different aspects. I get inspired by Paul Hudson because he has a very unique and inspiring way of teaching iOS development.
Do you have any ambitious goals for 2024?
Yes of course, I have a goal to be a senior iOS developer!
How do you define success?
For me, success is defined by your impact in other people’s lives. When at least one person can genuinely be so thankfully that you existed in their lives.
Interested in joining the JustPark team? Explore open roles and learn more about our company culture on our Careers page.
