Job Title: Technical Architect
Start Date: October 2013
Fun Fact: I grew up very far from the city, in Alaska and Vermont
How would you describe your position?
I’m a Technical Architect/Senior Developer. I do the technical design on a number of projects, which involves creating mockups, estimating how long custom development will take, and I’m responsible for the SSO or integration pieces in the project. While the project is going on, I’m managing the offshore developers or doing custom development myself if it’s either very simple or we need to spread out work more.
Where were you before you started at Silverline?
I was in college, and I joined Silverline as part of the first Silverline Academy.
How did you find out about Silverline?
Some of my friends from college knew Greg, and they connected me to him. We had a conversation and he told me what Silverline was, and that got the ball rolling.
How would you describe your average work day?
My average day involves usually one or two meetings where we just go over what we worked on in a project, what were going to be working on, and anything that might be holding us back from completing what we need to complete. Sometimes I’ll have status calls with the client, or maybe a design call. The rest of my time is spent either writing tickets for developers, reviewing developers work, or writing code myself.
What do you like most about the work you do?
I like that there are a lot of different challenges, the work is very different project to project. You’re interacting with lots of different people, you get exposed to a lot of different industries, and you get to work on cool projects. I also really like writing code and working on problem solving, sorting out the logic of what needs to be done. I find all of this very satisfying.
What are some day-to-day challenges you face?
Sometimes it’s tough to find the time to actually get work done between meetings, especially when I’m on a bunch of projects that are just starting up because that’s always a really meeting-heavy time. Getting work done between all the meetings can be challenging.
How would you describe the work environment at Silverline?
It’s great, the people are super helpful and working in the office is very relaxed. Everyone is willing to answer any questions you might have, so I know that if I’m ever stuck with a problem I can find someone who can help. The support network here is very robust.
What do you think makes Silverline a successful company?
The collaboration I mentioned is one of the biggest parts of what makes Silverline a success. All of the initiatives that the management does are geared towards facilitating really good collaboration. Projects such as the code library and design library allow us to create reusable assets. The mentality of collaboration is a large part of what makes us good at what we do.
What have you learned since you began working at Silverline?
I didn’t have any experience being a consultant, and in the academy we went through a kind of training boot-camp. We learned all about Salesforce and the Silverline methodology, as well as things like the best way to handle tough situations with clients. I’ve also learned a lot of more developer-oriented things like Javascript, integrations with Informatica, and programming in Visual Force and on external servers.
What is your favorite perk that Silverline offers?
Being able to come into work in jeans and a t-shirt or shorts and be comfortable all the time is my favorite perk. Also, the food in the kitchen is pretty great.
What is your favorite memory at Silverline?
The first week after I joined, we had an All Hands meeting. I didn’t know anybody, and everyone at the All Hands meeting and the celebration afterwards was so welcoming, and tried to get to know us very quickly and include us in conversation.
What are your hopes for your future at Silverline?
There’s still a lot to learn about being a Technical Architect. I definitely want to work on getting a better handle on all the technical details around integrations, and develop a better head for estimating projects beforehand.
If you had a friend who was thinking of working at Silverline, what advice would you give them?
From a developer standpoint, I would say that what you should know is we work very heavily with Salesforce, a lot of people don’t necessarily know what that means going in, so it would be good to research beforehand. It’s a great place to learn, and we get to work with a lot of technology as well as Salesforce, and new technology all the time. We’re constantly learning new things, and it’s really fun.
Interested in a career at Silverline? Check out our Careers Page for open positions!