Job Role: Senior Full Stack Software Engineer
Time with the company: 6 months
What attracted you to Salt Communications?
When I spoke to Salt before joining, it was apparent that the desktop application needed some TLC and for someone to have the responsibility to call it something to be proud of. The challenge, to bring this application into the spotlight and turn it into an awesome project, not only to have the great feeling to see the growing customer base using secure communications software but also to develop in a way that it’s enjoyable to work on for the whole team.
What does your current role entail at Salt Communications?
My current role here at Salt communications entails the development and management of the multi platform Salt desktop application. To ensure that the application follows the highest standards of integrity and quality. Consistently resolving dependency vulnerabilities, keeping ‘up to date’ using the latest technologies and frameworks. My focus recently has been around improving the foundations and process of development by introducing new ways of working, automation, documentation and test coverage.
What has challenged you within the industry?
Just the sheer amount of knowledge needed. Software, operating systems, testing, infrastructure etc there’s a lot of components to development, all ever changing. Sometimes it is ‘a pain’ up to date so to speak, what might be the latest and best now may not be in 3 months’ time.
Previously I have worked on a project with many unit tests using the testing utility enzyme, which is no longer actively worked on and is not compatible with later versions of React. So at the time if we wanted to use the latest version of React we would have to rewrite all those tests using a new utility which consisted of ‘a lot’ of work.
What is the best part of your job at Salt Communications?
My time at Salt has so far been short but already I can tell the work culture and environment is impressive. There is a real team spirit here which cannot be argued against. Flexibility to incorporate your solutions freely with support from peers. You can tell instantly everyone’s work ethic is to the success of Salt.
With the nature of the work, no two days are the same. There is always something to work on and improve.
What advice would you give to others starting out in their career in the cybersecurity industry?
Starting out in cybersecurity is always daunting in the early years. I always find that the job is what you make it, and every single day is different. The people in tech are generally in my experience always happy to help and friendly, there is no such thing as a dumb question, ask as many as you can as this is how you learn from your colleagues.
My advice would be to start small, focus on a specific technology or framework such as React (frontend), express (backend) or AWS (infrastructure), find something that interests you and broaden your knowledge from there.
About Salt Communications
Salt Communications is a multi-award winning cyber security company providing a fully enterprise-managed software solution giving absolute privacy in mobile communications. It is easy to deploy and uses multi-layered encryption techniques to meet the highest of security standards. Salt Communications offers ‘Peace of Mind’ for Organisations who value their privacy, by giving them complete control and secure communications, to protect their trusted relationships and stay safe. Salt is headquartered in Belfast, N. Ireland, for more information visit Salt Communications.
