Frontend developer, a job… for the passionate!

At Homiwoo, the culture of trust and stimulating energy greatly contributes to the fulfilment of employees. The positive atmosphere appealed to Etienne Quancard as soon as he joined the company, in 2020. He tells us about the challenges and satisfactions of working as a frontend developer for the French start-up.

Etienne Quancard embarked on the Homiwoo adventure in September 2020. His role? “Developing the interface and features for the web site and the platform, ensuring the user experience is both aesthetically pleasant and enjoyable”. Etienne is passionate about his job, a successful change in career path which was clearly meant to be.

From urban planning to web development

Having a keen interest in housing issues, Etienne began by getting a master’s in urban planning. After graduating, he joined a consulting firm specialised in housing policy and rehabilitation, where he carried out various assignments for local authorities. An interesting first experience, but not wholly fulfilling. “My job entailed a great deal of administrative tasks, it was pretty repetitive and I no longer felt I was learning anything. I thought about what I wanted to do next and realized I’d always had an interest in computers.” So Etienne quit his job and took an accelerated seven-month training course in web development. He was then hired as junior developer by a start-up, in the housing sector which he knows well, the perfect opportunity to apply and consolidate what he’d learnt.

Contacted by a head-hunter in the summer of 2020, Etienne didn’t hesitate one second to join the Homiwoo team. “The real estate sector still interested me, and I liked that projects were so varied at Homiwoo. The general mood also seemed good and indeed, right from my first day there I was made to feel very welcome ang given great support”.

The driving force of perpetual learning

The secret of this successful change in career path? A passion for computer development and the will to learn more about his field of expertise day after day. “In development, everything moves fast. You have to be curious, test new ideas every day and persevere”, explains Etienne. “Teamwork is key to making strides. At Homiwoo, each team has a meeting every morning where people describe what they did yesterday and what they have planned for today. That way, any issue can be brought to attention and complications resolved. Working alongside senior developers gives you the opportunity to learn more, and faster”.

Adrien Bernhardt, Homiwoo co-founder and CTO, contributes to the positive stimulation by suggesting new paths to explore. “Adrien does a lot of social listening and is always brimming with ideas”, marvels Etienne. One of the benefits of the job is that a frontend developer’s tasks are quite diverse. Beside the Homiwoo web site, Etienne works on the client platform as well as on various real estate and wealth management projects. “Developing features can take anywhere from one day to two months, depending on the complexity and what difficulties come up,” explains Etienne. “Recently, we’ve also been working on a new and innovative framework that will be used for future development projects. I loved mastering a new tool, exploring it to its fullest and feeling I’d learnt something. Coming up with solutions is quite a thrill”.

Daily trust and flexibility 

At Homiwoo, Etienne especially appreciates the caring culture conducive to each and every one going about his or her tasks serenely. “The mood is always good at work, there is never any undue pressure, and we help each other out. What’s more, there is real leeway in managing the work schedule. The company is flexible about working from home, it’s never a problem if you have a doctor’s appointment or whatever during working hours, because managers trust you. It’s a nice perk and a big change from what I experienced elsewhere”.

After two years at Homiwoo, Etienne wants to make it a long-term commitment. “My goal is to develop my skillset and become the company’s frontend expert”.