Name: Christian Shinkle
Role: Software Engineer
Why do you love what you do?
I have always been handy with math and problem solving. I excel at sticking with a problem until it is completely finished (sometimes longer than I should).
Favorite food?
I’ve always loved good Chinese cuisine. Any time I get the chance to try a hole in the wall Chinese restaurant, I take it.
What is an accomplishment you’re proud of?
At my previous employer, I was embedded within a team of highly skilled consultants. I was completely in over my head because I was unfamiliar with the cloud native tech stack, extreme programming practices (TDD, PR review, etc) and the business context as a whole. Despite all of these challenges, I rose to the occasion to “fake it ‘til you make it”. I stuck it out all the project for an entire year and by the end I had all my teammates fooled into thinking I was an actual cloud engineer.
Anything else we should know?
While I’ll never say no to a beer, my favorite kind is sour ale (particlary from Big Grove Brewery). All of my friends are baffled by my taste in beer, but I absolutely love a good tart drink.
Fun Fact:
I love gaming and have even built my own PC. Sadly, I don’t have the time and drive to play games like I used but I still know my way around motherboard PCB.
How did you get started down the path to becoming a developer?
When I was in college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I started off as an accounting major because of all the numbers but quickly realized it was not what I was looking for. I’ve always liked math and computers. One day, it dawned on me that computer science is basically those two things put together and the rest is history.
What made you decide to join We Write Code?
I felt that I was under-appreciated at my previous employer and felt that, in order to challenge myself as an engineer, I needed a change and Erin convinced me that We Write Code had the challenge I was looking for.
How do you see your past experiences at other organizations helping you in your new position at We Write Code?
One important lesson I have learnt from my past experiences is that communication is one of the most crucial skills an engineer can have. I have worked with many brilliant engineers that had terrible communication skills and they were of little to no use to the team because no one could explain any concepts to them nor could they explain any concepts to you. You can be the smartest person in the room and it won’t matter one bit if you can’t articulate your thoughts to your teammates.
What hobbies and activities do you do outside of work?
I was an avid cross country runner back in high school. I’m not in nearly the shape I used to be in, but I still find time to run a couple miles every once in a while. Unfortunately, I became a passionate college football fan during my college years and drinking lots of beer at tailgates and staying in shape for cross country running aren’t the most synergistic hobbies in the world.