Most startups are typified by small, closely-knit teams who often work shoulder-to-shoulder with company founders, sharing creative ideas and plans for betterment; a stereotype that Mopinion certainly lives up to. So who are our employees and how do they contribute to our company culture? In continuation of our Employee in the Spotlight series, I’d like to introduce you to this month’s employee, Anwar Jebali.
Meet Anwar. Having worked here for nearly six years, Anwar is another one of our ‘veterans’ here at Mopinion. He’s been around since the very beginning, working together with our team, crafting and deploying what is now a beautiful and intuitive platform interface. But, aside from being Web Developer and Front-End Team Lead, Anwar is a loving husband, a proud father to a baby girl, loves listening to (Dutch) hiphop and enjoys the occasional FIFA sesh with friends.
What does your position at Mopinion entail?
My position covers a pretty broad spectrum. I’m responsible for the general user experience and interface design of our platform as well as our other products, like feedback tools. I work on defining and conceptualising new features as well as designing and implementing those features. I mostly do front-end development and design but I’ll also work on our backend code when required. Alongside my own projects, I also lead the front-end and UX team which means that I assist our other developers with questions, do code reviews, make design decisions and define tasks for other developers.
What initially drew you to Mopinion?
My first impression was that Mopinion was a very innovative company with an interesting product. I thought it would be interesting to work with feedback data and the fact that the company was relatively new and already had some pretty big name customers was intriguing.
Plus I was not exactly looking to work in a ‘rigid’ corporate company so I thought a startup would be a good fit for me.
What does a typical work day look like for you?
Well coffee always comes first! And then I will run through my inbox and check if there are any urgent issues or bugs that require my immediate attention. Once that’s been tackled, I’ll go through my task list, which consists of developing and designing new features as well as improving upon existing features in the platform. I also assist the other developers with questions or issues throughout the day.
What is your favorite part about working at Mopinion?
I really like the freedom I have in my job. Assignments that we are given are pretty ‘broad’ meaning we are free to implement as we see fit, which really gives you a sense of product ownership. I also like that lines with management are short and that they really value our input.
I also really enjoy being a part of improving the product. I love that we’re not afraid to use the latest technologies in our projects and in my time as an employee here, we’ve improved at a rapid rate, which is really cool to see.
What are the biggest challenges you face in your job?
I’d say the biggest challenge is crafting a beautiful and usable platform with all our features. It has so many capabilities and it can be a real challenge implementing all those features into the interface, while keeping it intuitive.
What is your proudest moment at Mopinion?
I don’t really have one moment since I’m constantly improving, but usually my latest work is my best work. My latest project entails transforming the entire platform using a new front-end framework, React, while also re-imaging the entire user experience. It’s definitely my best work to date. When we release the new version of the app it will no doubt be my proudest moment.
And now for some fun questions…
What is your guilty pleasure?
I don’t really feel guilty about it but I really like Dutch hiphop, so artists like Ronnie Flex, SFB, Kevin.
Who inspires you?
Not just one person really. I’d say I’m inspired by people who go after their dreams and live a happy life.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I like to hang out with my wife and daughter, go out to dinner (with a good wine), read, watch movies and listen to music, and also play the occasional FIFA game with my friends.
What is one thing you can’t live without?
My family, of course. But I think #2 would be music. I am always listening to music, especially at work as it helps me focus.
Who is your biggest fear?
Public speaking, definitely.
What is your favorite movie?
I love all the Quentin Tarantino movies. Django Unchained is one of my favorites.
Source: Babbletop
What is something that not many people know about you?
Probably that I initially applied for a totally different job here at Mopinion. I honestly didn’t think I had enough experience in what they were asking for the web developer job they had posted, so I applied for a data entry position. Kees called me up and asked me to interview for the web developer job anyway and the rest is history.
Stay tuned for more!
We hope you enjoyed this month’s Employee in the Spotlight! Stay tuned for our August spotlight…
