Born in Košice, a book lover, a member of the Dr. Max team and a developer who can also be talked into participating in a marathon.
This is our colleague Matúš.
Matúš, you graduated from the business academy and then you went into computer science. Why the change?
I chose a business academy as a high school. But I was increasingly drawn to mathematics – science and computers. That’s why the choice of a university was completely clear to me and so I applied to the Informatics course at the UPJŠ Faculty of Science in Košice.
I will never forget the first lecture, it was physics and electronics and I asked myself what have I done, because the last time I saw any physics was in elementary school.
Of course – I didn’t understand a thing from the lecture. However, I quickly caught up, so after five years I successfully graduated from university.
But Bart.sk was not your first job.
No, it wasn’t. After school, I worked in a corporate company in Košice for two and a half years. Over time, however, I realized that the corporate world was not for me, so I looked for new challenges. I sent my CV to bart.sk and I succeeded – I’m here! It’s been six years.
And what about your free time?
I have quite a few interests, I try to live an active lifestyle. I used to play hockey and later floorball, now it’s mostly running – my colleagues at the company got me involved a few years ago when they enrolled me in the International Peace Marathon relay. I had no choice but to start training. Well, somehow it stuck and since then, I have run some more relays and also my first half marathon. Apart from running, I returned to cycling last year (after about 15 years) and in winter I enjoy skiing very much. Year-round it is, of course, hiking, climbing hills in summer and something a little less demanding in winter.
You love to read. Is that true? But is there something that only few people know about you?
True ? When the weather is bad, I love reading books – especially about the Second World War era. And is there something no one knew about me? I have no idea, but I think I bake pretty good langos (Deep fried flatbread ).
So langos, you say ? And your favorite one?
Personally, I prefer it with garlic, tartar sauce and cheese. Anyway, imagination has no limits and in principle I can prepare any langos, depends on the requirements of my guests ?
And what about World War II that you mentioned? Why are you interested in it?
I’ve been interested in history in general since childhood, but over time I began to focus on the history of World War II more and more. It was the largest armed conflict of all times and, moreover, it happened relatively recently. It should be a lesson for humanity that this is not a solution and a way out of a societal and economic crisis. On the other hand, I am very interested in the military technologies of that time, as in such a short time science (not only the development of weapons, but in general) has moved forward by miles. I am also fascinated by the tactical aspects of individual military operations, from the large and well-known ones to the smaller ones that aren’t so well known to the general public.
It can be said that the Dr. Max project is also moving forward by miles and you’re working on it.
It can be said that I’ve been working for the client, Dr. Max, for the second year now. At the end of last year, we, as a company, participated in the launch of a completely new version of their e-shop. At bart.sk, five of us work on this project – four developers and a scrum master. We cooperate with other companies from the Czech Republic that also provide development, but also testing and other project management, such as deploying to various environments, managing these environments, code quality control, etc. The development was divided between several teams, each team was in charge of a different part of the application. The five of us created a separate team where colleagues from the Czech Republic were gradually added. Over time, we have grown to some 10 people.
Was it possible to maintain a work-life balance on such a project?
Yes, well, I tried. Given that the deadline for submitting the project was known to us more or less a year in advance, I think that all participants had enough time to prepare for it and we were able to arrange it to be beneficial for the client and at the same time not to have large limitations on our private lives. Looking back over the past year, I dare say that when all five of us spent a little more time at work at the end of the year, we acted as a whole, we always pulled together and it united us more as a team. Not to mention that the experience of last year has moved all of us further, whether in technical skills or in the so-called soft skills.
Has your knowledge expanded since you joined bart?
Definitely! In six years, I went through various projects in the company. From large applications (Crossuite) and e-shops (Dr.Max, Topánkovo) through medium-sized applications (storage system for an e-shop) up to tailor-made applications (Smart home for the elderly). I worked on projects in teams, but also independently, in various programming languages. I learned some literally on the move, I tried not to be afraid of a new opportunity, to always learn something new. In this respect, working at bart.sk suits me very well. I try to focus more on back-end technologies, I feel more comfortable there, but of course I also work on the front-end if necessary.
Is there anything you would like to achieve in the near future?
As far as work is concerned, I want to be constantly improving in the technologies I work with. And this year (if there’s time), I’d like to learn something new, whether it’s a programming language or a framework or something… I neglected it a bit last year and, moreover, there is always room for growth. And also to be a good colleague for others. And outside of work? We’ll see what this year brings ?
Top 3 applications that you use in your smartphone most often?
I’m not a big mobile-maniac, so they’re rather classics such as Messenger, Strava (running, cycling), and Spotify.
Matúš, thank you very much for the time you dedicated
to this interview and I wish you a successful year!
