Symphony Personas: Sanja Jovanovikj

Symphonians come in all shapes and forms, and Symphony Solutions prouds itself on having gathered a strong team of talented and goal-driven people, many of them residing in the Skopje office. 

Sanja Jovanovikj, Front End Developer at Symphony Solutions, has been a Symphonian for close to five years already. In this time, she became a valuable and respectable team player in the company and an active participant of the SHE. community having spoken about defying gender stereotypes in the IT industry. 

Taking the opportunity to speak about her time at Symphony Solutions, Sanja answered some questions about her experience, how she got into software development, working remotely, productivity hacks, and even some book recommendations. 

1. What was your lightbulb moment? When did it click in your head that you wanted to be a developer? 

I was interested in technology since I was a little kid, so when it came time to think where I will continue my education after high school, it was an easy choice to make. Using the Internet without knowing how the websites and programs were made, was the lightbulb.    

2. What do you enjoy about your job as a developer the most? What are the highlights of your career at Symphony so far? 

Every project is a story of itself, with every new task, one grows both, personally and professionally. Every project that will see the light of day is a success. So, every Symphony project in my CV grew my creativity and highlighted the potential I have.   

3. What motivates you at work? 

First of all, the awesome people I am surrounded by, the team spirit that we are building together and the cozy atmosphere that we have in our Dutch styled office.  

4. How did you grow inside the company after coming here 5 years ago? 

Grew up as a person, not just as a developer. Learnt to work with a lot of different types of characters which developed my soft skills, skills that Symphony values in each one of us. The variety of different cultures, approaches and mindsets helped me become more professional.

5. What’s different about working here than anywhere else you’ve worked? What makes Symphony Solutions different from other companies? 

Symphony is more than a company, it is a family, way of life, way of working. Nobody cares more for their employees than Symphony does. And the greatest benefit of all is the trust we gain between us, and the clients. 

6. What are your professional and career plans?  

One day I will be a team lead of a huge team, running a project on a long-term basis!  

7. Is Symphony like a second home to you? How do you keep work-life balance? 

Yes, it is! I would not be at Symphony for almost 5 years now if it was not. I keep my work-life balance by switching off from the tasks I have at work after the working hours and devote completely to myself, my family, and friends.  

8. What do you think are Symphony’s most meaningful traditions?  

It is almost the New Year, the happiest time of the year, so I love when we all decorate the office in order to feel the Christmas spirit and wish the best for ourselves and others in the office. I personally love all of the events because those bring us together more.  

9. What values are important to you in Symphony? How do you experience those values here? 

Honesty! I appreciate that the most. I prefer ugly truth before fake smiles. Intimacy as well, since I feel about Symphony as my second home, which means that my colleagues are like family to me.  

10. What are your hobbies?  

A lot of things. I like riding a bike, but most of all I love to go fishing. It calms me being out there in the nature, near water. Reading books also. Verity is the name of the last book I read and I strongly recommend it. 

11. With the recent changes in the world, how did it impact your life and work? 

Lockdown was hard for all of us. You cannot travel, you are in constant fear for your health and wellbeing, our jobs were in danger also, in one word, very unstable period. It changed the way I look at life itself. I cherish every day and all the little things that are coming with it much more, the freedom that we had and will have I hope in the near future again. 

12. What’s special about working remotely with your team? How do you like the hybrid model of working and Symphony Anywhere? 

Working remotely brought us even closer as a team and friends, and I think that the opportunity to work from wherever is awesome, but still, I love the coziness of the office.  

13. What are your productivity hacks? 

Clean desk, the most important one, and some peace and quiet. A bottle of water on the desk is a MUST 🙂

14. Are there any podcasts, books, or inspirations you swear by? 

Yes, the book You Don’t Know JS Yet. Never stop learning!  

15. What is the best advice someone has given you? 

It always seems impossible until it is done!  
In other words, there is a solution to every problem. 

16. If you weren’t in IT, who would you become? 

No matter the IT, I still want to run a restaurant on my own one day: )   
So, the answer would be – A Chef 🙂

Want to learn the essence of Symphony Solutions that are Symphonians? Stay tuned and look out for more interviews in the near future!
But, for now, get to know our Symphonian Aleksandar Gacevski and read about his insights here.