Humans of Groundswell: Adam Sinclair

Adam Sinclair started as a Technical Consultant and has been at Groundswell for almost a year and eight months. Adam has grown not only as a developer here at Groundswell but as a people person too. He has had opportunities to speak directly with clients, gather requirements, demo products, and suggest solutions to complicated problems. 

What does your average day look like at Groundswell?

I mostly focus on software development. I write code in a Java-like language, Apex, and several front-end JS frameworks, Aura and LWC. My day to day involves implementing new features for our clients, fixing bugs, testing solutions for clients, and designing elements for future implementation. It also includes code review, where I review other developers’ code and provide feedback. Aside from client work, I assist interns with any current problems they face and spend time training on technologies that I find interesting.

How is it different now working from home?

It is bittersweet. 

On the positive side, I’ve been able to focus more on my work. Because there are fewer in-person discussions/meetings/distractions, it helps me focus on designing/implementing creative solutions. Sleeping in an extra 30 minutes is also a bonus! On the negative side, the best part about working at Groundswell is the camaraderie. It’s hard not to be able to strike up a conversation with a coworker to bounce ideas off of, and there is a lack of near-immediate response when working remotely, which has led me to adjust my time management skills. In the long term, I think honing these skills will be very valuable!

What are your favourite things to do in your spare time when you are out of the office?

It varies! Here’s a list of things I do to clear my head and keep me busy:

• Cooking/baking
• Outdoor sports with friends. Beach volleyball at Kits Beach is my favourite!
• Growing my balcony garden.
• Working on side projects/apps/games.

What do you like most about what you do?

What do you like most about what you do?

I’ve always loved writing code. Having the ability to take requirements from a client, propose a solution, implement it, and see the client happy is the most rewarding part of my job. The software development challenges vary day-to-day, which makes work much more dynamic. I never get bored with implementing solutions.

If you had a month off and money was no object, where would you go? (in a COVID-free-world of course)

Too many places. I’d love to explore Japan!
Or explore more of what British Columbia has to offer. The mountains are beautiful.

How did you come to choose this career path?

Before my 2018 internship, I really wanted to work in Vancouver for a summer. I was developing an Android app to help me find jobs, and I stumbled upon Groundswell Cloud Solutions. After applying and going through the interview process, I accepted an offer to work as an intern.

But why come back full-time? I felt confident about choosing Groundswell because of company culture. The deciding factor was knowing that I will start my career in a place where personal/professional growth is encouraged. I also knew the technical work would be challenging and rewarding.

I’ve met some really great people here at Groundswell. The camaraderie makes the work days go by much faster, and we enjoy the good times and help each other through tough times. We really do make a great team.

What is the hardest lesson you’ve ever learned?

Making mistakes is a normal part of life. It’s much better to own up to it, acknowledge the error, and move forward by improving yourself and (hopefully) preventing it from happening in the future.

Take my first internship in Ontario at [redacted] as an example.  

One beautiful sunny day, I accidentally deleted all records from a production database table. I knew immediately what I had done. My face went flush, and I could feel the anxiety and panic creeping up on me. It was about 10 seconds of panic (which felt like an eternity) before I messaged my Database Admin. I was fully expecting an angry response and a meeting with my manager. My career had not even started, and I thought it was over. 

The database admin’s response? “Lol. Classic”. 

Luckily there were failsafe measures to revert back 15 minutes before the incident. They also revoked most production database access and improved their process. The team was grateful for my quick action, and I was grateful to still have a job! 

Make mistakes. Own up to them. Learn from them. Move on.