János Turóczi has been working in IT for over 15 years. Building his professional career, he tried several roles from system analyst to programmer, team leader, project manager, and many others. He is constantly challenging himself and is searching for new opportunities to develop his skills and competences. Currently he is a team leader, working onsite at our telecommunications customer, and a member of a decision-making group at Sigma Technology Hungary. In addition to his profession, he is a keen photographer, an enthusiastic scuba diver and a fan of geocaching.
Hi János, let’s start with your background.
Actually, I’m not a programmer, I am a system analyst. I started my career right after finishing school. One of the largest Hungarian banks offered me a position as a first-line support specialist, so I spent the next eleven years there, climbing the career ladder. I became a system analyst, later a programmer, and finally a project manager. I basically tried every role I could, and I do advise everyone, who is in doubt about their future career, to make the best of every opportunity. Try new things, develop your skills, and get a good understanding of the processes and operations at the company you work for. It will definitely help you to grow professionally and to find what you like the most. All these things contributed to my career.
Try new things, develop your skills, and get a good understanding of the processes and operations at the company you work for.
I have tried several other jobs before I finally met Sigma two years ago. At that time I was also freelancing, but Sigma Technology Hungary didn’t restrict me in that activity. As long as I did my work properly in the office, I could improve myself and have my own business in my free time. And I really appreciated that trust.
As long as I did my work properly in the office, I could improve myself and have my own business in my free time. And I really appreciated that trust.
Though, it was quite an experience to combine these two things. Anyway, now I have very good time management skills, which are definitely a positive thing. After some time I started participating in job interviews and different decision-making processes, which I still like a lot.
Tell us a little bit about your current project.
I work at the Test Competence Center of our big telecommunications customer. The project develops a load generator tool for industrial network devices, which is able to measure the amount of traffic any network device can handle. This tool is for almost all protocols, calling types, and calling scenarios. So it’s quite exciting.
What is the size of your team?
We have roughly 60 people in different roles including five Scrum groups. I’m managing one of them, which is called Loki (from the Avengers :-)). Our main goal is to make the strategical development of the tool. We are responsible for the whole product, and we sometimes do the development work that others are reluctant to do.
What do you value in your work?
I’m here because I love programming, and I applied for the position of a test automation engineer. After four months I was promoted to lead Sigma Technology Hungary’s developer team onsite. After some months I became the Loki team leader at our customer. Now I am a part of a decision-making group at our client too. Although I’m a contractor there; my opinion is respected and the customer places great trust in me. It is one of the many things that motivate me.
As a manager you need to encourage your subordinates and help them. Do you enjoy this aspect of your work?
Have you seen the TVs with the green bars? There is an interesting story behind them. One of my Sigma team members’ assignment ended and his employment contract was about to expire. I knew that the client needed someone to develop a Continuous Integration monitoring tool. As my team member was a Raspberry Pi specialist and a security expert, I suggested the client giving him this assignment. He got two weeks to complete it.
Here comes the interesting part. Several Sigma employees joined the process to help; technical writers created the documentation; I assisted with the programming, and another Sigma specialist assisted with the UI. Everyone put their best in this project, and as a result, this consultant got a new long-term assignment.
What do you value in Sigma?
We always search for the most talented candidates, and if they join us, we give them the opportunity to learn and to become experts in their areas. We are doing this with a positive attitude focusing on their personal development plans.
What is Technology for you?
Technology is my life. 🙂 Currently I am living in symbiosis with all my gadgets, and I really appreciate if something new makes my life a little bit easier. However, nowadays technology alone is not enough to conquer the world, the key question is how to make technology usable.
We thank János for a great interview and wish new successes and challenges at work. Starting from October 1, János Turóczi is also a Unit Manager for Sigma Technology Hungary!