We caught up with Sikander Sehrawat, who joined our Development team as an intern and quickly progressed into a full-time Associate position. He talks about what it was like to start his first working experience during a pandemic and his journey to a certified MuleSoft Developer.
Joining the team
I joined Infomentum amidst the Coronavirus crisis in the middle of October 2020. I remember being very nervous on my first day. Even though I had the comfort of my home (at the time, the whole team was working from home), it was my first day ever at any job! Luckily, two more employees were starting with Infomentum on the same day as me. So it gave me comfort knowing I was not going to be the only one gathering all the attention as the new guy.
Sikander enjoying Trafalgar Square, LondonWe had a series of meetings scheduled for the next two weeks, being introduced to various parts of the company and the work methodologies that Infomentum follows. These meetings allowed me to talk to people, get used to video calls and meetings, and learn the company work ethic.
Everyone I interacted with was very outgoing and friendly. It never feels like a workplace; instead, it feels like a family where everyone is caring, helpful and enjoys each other’s company. Even though it was through video calls, I was made to feel welcome, which made transitioning into a working life smooth sailing for me.
Company Meetings
Another aspect that helped me integrate into the Infomentum family are the monthly Company meetings. These meetings include business progress, project progress reports that are always interesting to listen to, and the best part are the monthly photos. Employees share pictures of anything fun and exciting they may have done throughout the month since the last meeting. It creates a warm feeling of homeliness and community.
Mulesoft Developer Certification
For the first month, my focus was on the MuleSoft Certification. I was given the time and support to complete the training module and study for the exam. The program piqued my interest early on. As I went through the modules, I could see the dots connecting in my head. It gave me more motivation to study hard and learn as much as I could about Mulesoft. I wasn’t required to get a certification as part of the internship, but I enjoyed the training so much that I decided that I would be going forward with it.
After the completion of the online course, I wanted to jump into the certification exam straight away. Why wait, right? But my line manager advised me otherwise. He said I should take my time, offered to go through my questions and suggested talking to someone who had recently passed the certification. After talking to my colleagues, I realised that waiting longer to refine my skills and knowledge on the topic was the best thing to do! I got advice and guidance on practice strategies and learned about the overall experience of the exam. If you’ve just completed the MuleSoft online training, my advice to you is the one given to me: try to speak to someone who has already experienced it for their tips!
It worked for me; I’m a certified MuleSoft Developer!
Completed the certification; what next?
Even though I had gotten my certification, I still had limited real-life experience working on a project. I was buzzing with the excitement to get started and put my knowledge to the test. Again, my line manager insisted I get more experience before jumping right in. My teammates took their time to show me the projects they were working on or had worked on previously. It helped me translate the knowledge I had recently gained into real-world applications. I was then introduced to my first project. I felt like a valuable team member straight away, my questions were answered, and suggestions were welcomed.
While I was waiting to be deployed on the project, I spent time further developing my skills, particularly the Munits and how to create tests for APIs in MuleSoft, which is also an integral part of integration and API design. This was very handy, as my first task as a certified MuleSoft developer was to create a Munit test. Since then, I have been given more and more duties to complete, which get more complicated every time. The increasing difficulty brings confidence as the company entrusts me to be able to complete these tasks and lets me progress!
Work in Progress: MuleSoft API flow for one of our customersThe amount of help and support everyone around me is ready to provide is overwhelming. I can ask anyone for support in any doubt or problem that I have, and they will take time from their busy schedules to guide me on my endeavour.
Is life as a MuleSoft Developer at Infomentum beneficial?
The short answer is YES!
Becoming a MuleSoft Developer has been rewarding for me as a working professional. The experience I have had so far has been the most productive and purposeful. The knowledge about MuleSoft, APIs, and Integration, which I had previously known very little about, has been advantageous and fruitful.
