Why did you join Brand New Day?
Gun: “I was a developer at a Thai company, looking for a job at an international company. I had had many English lessons and I wanted to put them to practice, because I didn’t speak English in my daily life. It’s worked really well because I have been speaking English every day here in the Bangkok office and also in communicating with the Amsterdam office.”
Kokkak: “Language is a very important skill because if you can speak, you can go anywhere. I improve my English skills every Friday morning in the English lessons that Brand New Day provides. I also like the European style of working, which has a good work-life balance. Before, I was at a Japanese company and they have very strict rules and work really, really hard. Staying in the office until 9pm is normal in Asia.”
How did you get the job at Brand New Day?
Gun: “It’s been five years, but I think I applied through a website called Jobsdb, where Brand New Day had posted a job description. After the first interview I still needed to do a test, a coding challenge for creating a small app. And then interview with some colleagues.”
Kokkak: “They found me on LinkedIn and because I’ve been here a couple of years longer than Gun, it was a different test in my case. At that time, the office didn’t have many people yet. I started as a junior.”
What kind of changes have you seen since you started?
Gun: “I have proved myself a lot when it comes to communicating in English and working with people from abroad. Also, we started working in sprints using the scrum methodology: ‘we plan, create tickets and finish our tasks within the sprint. When we’re done, we do the review with the product owner and the business analysis team. It’s a good way of working because if you did the work, you also need to do the presentation. That’s another skill that you’re developing. It’s been a lot of change for me, but also a very good experience.”
Kokkak: “I have improved a lot, and my technical work has too. Brand New Day always brings us new technologies to improve our website and app. There’s always a new challenge.”
You’ve both seen the Thailand office double in size to almost 30 people. I heard there are weekly team building exercises. What do you like about working for a brand new day?
Gun: “I like working in sprints and communicating with the product owner and the business analysis team. Everyone is really friendly. After we finish work, we are just friends. Even the manager, we’re all close. We spend time together after work, it’s really a joy. Recently the CEO and CFO came over from Amsterdam and we all went on a fun trip together. I really like our company. There is not much hierarchy and that’s very different from most companies in Thailand.”
Kokkak: “One day I was working late for a few hours, trying to finish a task. A colleague came to me in the chat to tell me to please stop working, go home and rest. That’s a great work culture. There is also a monthly karaoke night and sometimes a running event.”
What kind of people work at Brand New Day’s Bangkok office?
Gun: “Funny people. There is always laughter in the office. We’re like a big group of friends, we chit-chat, we talk about everything and have lunch together. Even after work hours, we often do activities. It’s a lot of fun working here.”
Let’s talk about your work. You’re both developers. What do you do day to day?
Gun: “We improve the app, create new features and fix bugs. We start with discussing how we will approach a task within the sprint. What is needed for this ticket and who will take the responsibility to finish the task? I’m moving to the new cloud team soon though, to develop our cloud infrastructure and help move the app there.”
Kokkak: “I’m still a developer, but I’m also the scrum master for my team. So I don’t just deal with the task, but also with the product owner from business analysis. If there are any questions in the team about the ticket, I’m the one person who has to get the answers and clarify. And the other way around of course.”
What makes you proud about your job?
Kokkak: “If you’re a developer, companies often don’t care much about your communication skills. You just need to be good technically to get hired. But there is room to develop yourself at Brand New Day, and I did that. I may not be the best developer, but I’m good with people and I think that’s why I got the role as scrum master. I’m very proud of that.”
Gun: “As someone who has worked here for a number of years, I can help new members of the team understand our work process. I can explain how our business works and how we work together in the development team. I help interviewing new job applicants and I’m the mentor of our trainee. So I do more than just coding and that makes me a proud member of the team.”
Want to experience what Gun and Kokkak mean? Have a look at our open vacancies. Or contact our HR department for a cup of coffee or tea. They look forward to it!
