Small Town with Worldwide Impact Lifts Engineering to Limitless Heights
Q: Petar – since the description of Pula as a ‘human-sized city’ actually came from you, what’s the story behind that? How did you come to think of it that way?
Petar: Okay, so first off – my original plan was just a temporary stay in Pula, until my onboarding process was over and done with. I had every intention of returning to Zagreb after that, since it’s the capital, a larger city with more stuff to do.
Then, after being woken up by the Uljanik shipyard’s siren and the sun, I realized how much I liked living and working by the sea.
I also realized that I actually get to do more in Pula than I did in Zagreb; it depends on the kind of person you are, but for me there were too many activities there, so I didn’t know what to even choose. Plus, you need at least 20-30 minutes to get to where you’re going.
In Pula? I can get anywhere just by walking. So that’s what I meant by ‘human-sized city’ – large enough to offer enough things to pique my interest, but also small enough not to be crowded and impractical.
Q: You changed the company you worked for, and then the city you lived in – what kind of experience was that for you?
Petar: It really helped that Infobip provided accommodation during the first three months of my life in Istria. It gave me a lot of time to find a flat of my own and made the process much smoother.
As for switching companies…is it too much if I say I’m also a fan of Infobip’s HR department, our People Operations. Seriously, a whole department of people making sure we’re satisfied, happy and healthy as employees and individuals.
My old company definitely didn’t have anything like it; it’s generally tough to find another workplace with its own cafeteria, individual educational budget, flexible work arrangements and good work organization. I like getting vacation time when I need it – not only when the Gods have mercy on my soul. 🙂
If the top-notch tech and all the perks of a relaxing lifestyle in Istria hadn’t won me over, that might have just done the trick on its own.
Q: Great, you’re obviously a fan of the lifestyle and company culture! But what was it about work that made you stay? What does a Core Network Engineer do?
Petar: My team makes sure our core network – both the internal and the external part – are working properly. If there’s a bug somewhere, our clients can’t connect to the platform, so it’s a lot of responsibility on our hands.
Also, our clients want that our platform works 24/7/365 and we strive to achieve it, but it is often a challenge since there is little room for error. Finding the time for large-scale maintenance is tricky and everything needs to work right off the bat. It’s a challenge, but I love it.
It means a lot to know that we have the best tech at our disposal to make sure everything is functioning as it should. Like I mentioned before, the first thing I was thrilled about when I came to Infobip was the cutting-edge technology – everywhere.
I mean, at my old job, I had to get by using older tech and improvised equipment, trying to get something done with it. Here, you get top-notch equipment matched only by what Mobile Network Operators might have – and you get to play with that and do your best with that. It’s a feeling I’d compare to…feeling like there are no limits to what you can build and learn.
