There are currently just over 60 employees within PHPro, these people are the beating heart of our company.
We really appreciate the work they do and therefore we like to put them in the spotlight!
Vicky Laurijssen is a PHP developer and technical lead architect. In April, she will have been working at PHPro for 8 years and we cannot let that go unnoticed. Through a short interview, she told us how she got into web development and why she prefers PHPro over other companies.
Curious about her story? Then read on ?
Good morning Vicky, first of all thank you for making time for this interview.
Can you briefly introduce yourself?
Hi, my name is Vicky Laurijssen. I have been working at PHPro since April 2012, almost 8 years already.
I'm actually one of the first employees PHPro hired. I am a PHP developer and technical lead architect. I mainly deal with e-commerce projects, primarily Magento and soon OroCommerce.
Super interesting! Why did you choose web development in the first place? Did it come from your studies or did you get into it on your own?
Ultimately, I did study for it. As an eighteen-year-old, I came from an ASO background and didn't know at all what I wanted to do.
I started studying mathematics at university because I thought the direction astronomy sounded very “fancy” and would be interesting, but not knowing what I could achieve later. After a year and a half it turned out to be a bit difficult and I dropped out. Since I still had half a school year left and couldn't register for another course yet, I started making websites with 'my crazy head'. I taught myself HTML and CSS and that was something I really enjoyed doing. From this interest, I took a course in graphic and digital media. Unfortunately, the course focused more on web design and less on programming.
Did you find programming more interesting than designing?
I had also started looking into studying computer science at the time but I found it too “dry” at that time.
The direction was mainly focused on desktop applications and programming. Less focused on Internet applications and that was a shame.
Making Internet applications seemed much more interesting to me at that time since it is also more visual.
Hence, I had hoped that the graphic and digital media course was going to be just a little more technical, but it wasn't.
When I was hired for my first job, I wanted to learn more about the things I found interesting. This, too, was disappointing. So I decided to study Applied Computer Science to get the necessary technical knowledge.
To your credit, you follow your heart and immerse yourself in your interests.
I knew I could program something or other from my previous education. In college, I had a course called “Principles of Programming in Java.” That was one of the few courses I passed then and I even had good results for it.
Did you work somewhere else before PHPro? (In the same industry?)
I had a role as a web designer and web developer before joining PHPro.
The company I worked for was primarily focused on event management. I did everything web-related, creating banners in Photoshop and formatting and sending out newsletters were also involved. It was rather simple and marketing-oriented stuff.
Does the knowledge and background in graphics help you with web development?
Personally, I see this as something positive. I understand graphic designers and know what they pay attention to and what they look at. This comes in handy when I need to carry this through to the effective construction of the website.
You already have experience with HTML, CSS, graphics and programming, and in the meantime you have gained work experience. So how did you end up at PHPro?
During my Applied Computer Science studies, I also had to do an internship. I wanted to do something around PHP. I ended up at GroupWave for an internship project. Here I created a CV application (predecessor of Faradoo, an internal tool for managing individual curricula).
The idea was that I created an environment where we could enter all the data concerning a CV. Third parties could consult and print this CV in PDF format in a self-selected template. The initial idea was developed by me in 2011, then still in Zend Framework 1. My internship supervisor was Ken Janssen, he himself started at PHPro around 2012 and they were still looking for PHP developers and that's how I ended up at PHPro. So I started and stayed here!
Why do you enjoy working at PHPro? What is your best experience within PHPro in these 8 years?
That depends on several factors. The work I do and can do at PHPro is the type of job I like to do in general.
In my previous job, there were three of us and I was the “specialist” while I didn't think of myself as having enough knowledge. I had to take care of all the technical solutions, which was actually a bit strange. I also had no one to fall back on, which was unfortunate.
When I started at PHPro I was a real “junior” but you are surrounded by 20-30 PHP developers who help you where needed. If you have questions or problems you can communicate openly about it and they help you right away. The safety net given is really nice though, just that you know that's there.
You also have a lot of opportunities within your job. If you say tomorrow that you want to do something completely different, they will listen to you.
Joke Puts, a colleague of mine, has always been a PHP developer and has now decided she wants to take on more of a PO (Project Owner) role. None of that was a problem. You get the opportunities to go after your interests.
What I also like is that with us you get a new project about every 6 months. I also like this variety. If you have a project you don't like, you can easily indicate this and they always try to put someone else on it. You can actually reinvent your own job a bit without having to work somewhere else.
Not to mention, I have a super nice team with a good atmosphere and a good relationship with my managers. They engage in dialogue and listen. Personally, I think it's really important to have a good relationship with your management. They support you to do your job well and better, which is ideal actually.
“You have the advantages of a large company, such as the various legal benefits and services but also the advantages of a small company, such as your “Island” with your colleagues. You won't immediately feel like a number.”
Vicky Laurijssen
What about girl power within the developer community?
As such, there are quite a few women working at PHPro. Barely 10% of graduating Computer Science students are women. Currently we are 7 women out of 60-65 employees. That's kind of nice!
What has been your most fun project at PHPro so far?
Essentiel, not so much the project itself. I started there in 2013 and today they are still clients of PHPro. The contact with the client is very positive and that is very nice. They listen to what you say and suggest and understand it. Always nice to see that after all these years they appreciate our work and collaborations.
What was the most difficult moment at PHPro?
It's difficult when you're with a client where you sense that they don't immediately know where they want to go. Sometimes you also have to work with parties that are not as professional, which is always a challenge as well to get the right information from them. But there's nothing that really stands out that I thought “gee that was really not doable.”
Last but not least, what are your good intentions for 2020? What do you see yourself growing in?
OroCommerce. The plan would be to start a first project within PHPro. If I can get in on that and work it out, that would be great. The 2020 goal is to get to know OroCommerce inside and out.