Welcome to another entry in our Bondora Superstars blog series! This month, we’re getting to know Julia Kolotova. She’s one of our .Net developers and our 8th Bondora Superstar. This series highlights Bondorians’ passion for what they do, why they love working at Bondora and other cool things you didn’t know about them. Let’s jump right in!
Bondora Superstars #8 — Julia Kolotova
👩Bondorian since: 2018
👩🏻💻 Role: .Net developer
💻 Team: Developers
On the 9th of October 2018, Julia became a Bondora Superstar. She currently works in the Developer team as one of our talented .Net developers. During her 2.5 years at Bondora, she’s made new friends, worked with different people, and even in different teams. And don’t think that because she’s a .Net developer, she only codes. Oh no. She is quite an impressive woman and also holds a degree in nuclear science! But more on that later…
First, here’s what a typical day is like for Julia:
Like so many Bondorians, Julia likes to start her day with a cup of coffee. But she’s immediately on a mission and surveys the Bondora WatchTower. She checks the state of our system, and if she notices any danger, she tries to solve the problem on her own, or starts semaphores in their programmer chats:
“I know some might even hate me for it because I get up early and start waking the others up when there are serious problems 🙊 Luckily, this doesn’t happen often. So, after my coffee, I can start doing my day-to-day work. This includes writing the code, improving the user experience on our loan application process, developing new features, and making customers happier. “
What’s the most rewarding part of working at Bondora?
“It’s a great feeling when you have been working on a feature for a very long time, and it finally goes live and works stably. Or when you fixed a mystical bug that caused problems for the user for a very long time, and finally everything works as it should.”
What’s your favorite Bondora value? It’s not really a value, but I love that we’re all superstars 🤩
Tell us more about your experience as a female developer?
I have one joke 😆 During difficult moments when you have been working on some kind of problem for a very long time, and you’re exhausted, and you almost want to give up, I sometimes think – I’m just a girl. I don’t want to decide anything, and I don’t want to fix bugs. I just want a new dress. But then I remember that I get paid, and I actually like my job 🤣
📚 Julia’s must-read book:
Animal Farm by George Orwell and Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships by Eric Berne
We mentioned this earlier, and many might not know this, but you’re a nuclear scientist! Any chance you’ll pursue it as a career someday?
Yes, the full name of my specialty is Safety and Non-proliferation of Nuclear Materials. I could be a person who walks into a nuclear facility in a white coat, monitors the level of radiation, and ensures that all the standards are met according to the IAEA’s international recommendations. Or I could be a person who makes sure that atomic energy is used in the world for peaceful purposes only.
But it just so happens that I did not manage to work in my specialty. I had to retrain and become a programmer. It’s really difficult for me to imagine myself in any another position as I have more programming experience. But who knows…
Time for some outside-of-work questions:
If you could study anything again, what would you choose?
I could study to be a lawyer because I like to restore justice. Or I would choose something creative – like film directing, for example 🎬
Pineapple on pizza?
Not always
What’s your favorite food?
It’s hard to single out one thing; I generally like to eat 😆. But I have to mention pizza or something sweet.
And what food do you refuse to eat?
Something very exotic, like insects.
What’s your spirit animal?
I think a cat 🐈 They’re not afraid to be funny and like to be independent.
What’s something you want to do but scares you?
Jump out of an airplane with a parachute.
And there you have it! Julia is a woman with many (hidden) talents. Proving once again that Bondorians are unique people with various passions in life. Join us again next month as we get to know our 9th Bondora Superstar ⭐️
The views and opinions expressed in this article are that of the individual and not Bondora’s official view.