Developing on the cutting-edge

For Adeel, being a software developer at SMART means being able to continually broaden his skill set.

"When people think of software developers, they sometimes think of code monkeys – people who sit at their desk writing C++ all day. But my job is very different than that," Adeel says. "The kind of work we do, in terms of the technology, is really unique and cutting-edge. You get to work with technologies that are in high demand, so your skill set is always up-to-date and being added to."

Part of developing that skill set is having the flexibility to move to different groups within the department, work with new technologies – as well as being encouraged to suggest different technologies to solve problems.

"If you want to work with HTML 5, iOS devices or Qt, you can," Adeel says. "And we're really open about using different technologies, too. We do our research and see what technology fits the task at hand and use it. There's no one saying everything has to be done in C++ – if it doesn't make sense, we'll use something else."

Adeel says his team is also given the opportunity to contribute their skills and experience beyond simply writing code.

"The people in our group have a larger skill set than being solely developers, so we help the usability team define their requirements, and also to help them create better interfaces and make crucial decisions regarding deployment," he says. "You don't get that everywhere, because in a lot of companies, they simply tell the software people exactly what they want."

And that is something that Adeel greatly values. He believes that SMART's culture of ensuring every voice is heard translates into successful results.

"Everyone is open to ideas or opinions here. It's never set in stone to do things a certain way. If you have a better idea, it'll be done that way," Adeel says. "And out of this, we end up with a better design."

And while the freedom to regularly contribute his skill and expertise while further growing his skill set is invaluable to Adeel, he never forgets just what it is that he's working on – and how exciting it is.

"We have the opportunity to redefine how people collaborate and learn, especially in working environments. And that's a very rare thing," Adeel says. "I feel that what I'm working on right now can be something really big."

Sound like something you'd like to be a part of?

Find out more about opportunities at SMART.