Aleksander, Software Engineer and Almost Police Officer

My “why” is to change the world and the future – to improve peoples’ lives, financial status, or anything else that might be important to them. To do that, I need to learn a lot of different things and, most importantly, be in agreement with myself and understand my thoughts and processes that happen inside my head. Qualtrics was the best choice for me because, after talking to Michal Kutyla, one of the Software Engineering Managers at Qualtrics, I knew that I would be working in an environment that supports growth and the well-being of individuals, that I will learn a lot of different skills that will be essential for me in the future, and I will get to know people with different backgrounds and opinions.

What does your typical day look like?

I get up at 5am – about an hour of my morning routine includes meditation, posture exercises, reading, and journaling. If it is my gym day then go to the gym, shower, go to the office (read while in the tram), work, go back home (read while in the tram), work on my personal goals till 7PM, spend the rest of the day with my fiancée, and go to sleep around 10/11PM. Some days I skip the personal goals and work to spend more time with my fiancée.

What made you want to get into engineering? Any advice for those looking to get into engineering?

To be in a position where I earn enough money to pick a real-world issue/problem and solve it with Qualtrics. I really enjoy the level of independence my team has. For advice I would say clarify everything that you feel uncertain about - ask as many questions as you can, even if it feels like you are making a fool of yourself.

After graduating high school I joined AGH University to study computer science, but my approach was very bad and I failed two years in a row. I came to the (wrong) conclusion that computer science was not for me and I wanted to try something else. I went into finance but, after 2 weeks of classes, I dropped that too because it was so boring. Then I had a little existential crisis and, after a while, my mom told me that I should just get a job somewhere with a safe pay-check like a border guard or a fireman. So I applied to the police force and....failed on the last exam. :D

After that I started to work in a shop. I realized how much I hated it and that I couldn't stand working there for the rest of my life. This actually increased my motivation like never before. I decided that, starting the next academic year, I would do everything to get my Bachelor's degree in computer science. I joined Jagiellonian University, became the #1 student based on GPA and got an internship in my second year. A few months ago, I completed an internship with Amazon and now I am here at Qualtrics super happy with what I do, who I work with, and about everything in my life in general.

Qualtrics is growing, and if you're ready to find your "why" at a place like this, you can explore our open opportunities at any time by visiting our career page or by joining our talent community.

	Aleksander is an alumnus of Jagiellonian University and started his career at Grid Dynamics. He almost became a policeman before he became a software engineer.

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