We often state that growth is a big part of our culture, so we offer our Centricians the means and methods to improve their skills constantly. Cosmin started his career path in Centric over 6 years ago and went from an internship position to technical leadership. Find out how he grew with Centric in the story below.
#GrowWithCentric From intern to Tech Lead, Cosmin's story about growth
Tech Lead
Cosmin Lupu
How did you start in Centric?
I started working for Centric 6 years ago, during a summer internship. It has been my first and only workplace so far.
What can you tell us about your current position in Centric?
I am a software developer and a technical lead. It's a complex role that comes with a set of responsibilities both on the technical and the organizational side as well. You can make decisions and influence the company's technical direction and are also responsible for guiding your peers and helping them find the best solutions to their technical issues.
How did you go from intern to tech lead?
In my case, evolution occurred naturally. Even during the internship, I liked building software solutions that could help solve people's problems and build them end to end. That motivated me to learn and analyze all kinds of technologies that I could one day use to build this kind of software. My colleagues also helped me feed my hunger for knowledge and information because I always was surrounded by people I could learn things from - both on the technical and on the soft skills sides.
What motivates you to learn?
I like to study in-depth and understand anything that gets my attention. I try to keep myself up to date with all trends and technology and I always make time for learning.
How do you make time for learning?
I think if you want to, you can always make time for learning. If necessary, I block time slots in my calendar to study.
What was your biggest failure and what did you learn from it?
Funny as it may sound, I don't think I have ever been in a situation I could consider a total failure. There were of course some delicate situations on the projects I worked on, but we sorted them out by talking with the stakeholders. And I learned a lot from them: how to approach a situation, when to speak and when to hold back.
What is your favorite success story?
I don't think I have a favorite story, but I can proudly say that the projects I have worked on received pretty good feedback from customers and peers. For instance, I consider my current project a success story: it passed through this pandemic with flying colors and more so, the client requested our help in building more and more parts of his project.
What kinds of learning and growth practices do you have?
When I'm learning something new, I never treat matters shallowly but try to analyze the information in depth and run it through my filters: find out what works, what doesn't, how something can be implemented.
Who has been the most inspirational person for your career and why?
During my years at Centric, I’ve got to work on multiple projects and interact with a lot of awesome people, so every day was a learning experience. But if I think things through, something that mattered a lot for me was my first year of college. I got to meet a professor that was a great positive influence and who taught us how to look for multiple solutions for a problem and in the end, choose the best one.
If you would have any advice for other young students starting their journey in the IT world, what would it be?
Try to think through things thoroughly, like an engineer. One of the main ideas I was left with from college was analyzing information in detail, check the technical data, see how things work and are connected. I apply this to many situations I find myself in today, in my current role.
