Our #LifeAtJulie series continue and in this episode, let’s meet Frédéric Grais, Developer at Julie Desk. He will share with us a piece of his professional and personal world and that will help us understand why he is also our Chief Security Officer 😉
If you missed the previous episodes, you can still meet the co-founders and our Sales Manager.
1. Hi Fred, can you tell us a bit more about your background?
Hello, my name is Frédéric and I’m 25 years old. I have been a Developer at Julie Desk since August 2015, so over a year now.
My education background is quite typical for a Developer. After graduating from high school, I completed a University-level Technology Diploma in Electrical Engineering and Industrial IT at the University Institute of Technology of Villeurbanne (Lyon-France). Then, I enrolled in the University of Technology of Troyes, an Engineering School that offers excellent programs to students from different horizons.
During these 5 years of Engineering school, I completed 3 internships in very different environments. First, it was a research internship at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Lyon where I provided a modest contribution to the development of a mass spectrometer using fluorescence techniques to weigh electrons (it’s even more impressive in real life, we expected to see Tony Stark appear at any moment).
After that, I did a 6-month internship at Pitch Me (Paris), an IT development company. There, I used, for the first time, Ruby and Ruby On Rails for the development of several web projects for entrepreneurs seeking aid from Pitch Me. During this internship, I was able to learn a lot as we were only 2 Developers in the whole company. I worked alone on many projects for several months and I think that has taught me how to have a good work ethic and the perfect skills to advance in my career.
Following this internship and in parallel with my studies, I worked as a freelance Developer mainly with Pitch Me for whom I continued the work I had been doing during my internship except for this time, I was paying my social contributions to the State.
Finally, I completed my third internship, also 6 month long, at Pacifa Decision in Reims. This was a SME composed of 15 people and I had the chance to touch on the 3D world, mostly 3D applications. I developed a sport stadium (soccer, rugby…) management application on tablets using the Unity3D engine. This internship was very formative and it allowed me to broaden my knowledge and realize that I didn’t have bad grades in Math university classes for nothing.
That’s a little summary about my education background.
2. How did you end up at Julie Desk?
In fact, it was completely by chance. I was looking for a first job after school when my brother, who was participating in a boot camp called the’Camping’ (an accelerator for start-ups called NUMA today) dropped my CV on a list circulating within the campsite (or so he told me anyway). Then, the founders of Julie Desk contacted me to learn more about me. A few weeks later, I joined the company.
3. What’s your role at Julie Desk? Can you describe a typical day?
I am a Developer at Julie Desk. Concretely, I integrate new features designed by the product team into different tools used by Julie Desk.
4. Any advice for people willing to do what you do?
I am not the best person to be giving advice but I can simply give the general advice that anyone has heard from their parents which is to spend enough time on an activity that you wish to master.
“Once it becomes annoying, that’s when you start learning”
5. What is the main challenge you face (or have faced) while working at Julie Desk?
Resolving occurring issues on a daily basis while developing new features at the same time.
6. Where do you see Julie Desk in 5 years?
I believe that Julie Desk will be bought in the next 3 years if it continues developing and evolving at the same rhythm as it is today.
7. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I haven’t really thought that far. To be honest, I am quite opportunistic.
8. Three words to describe you?
Grey sweater, sandwich, pasta shells.
9. Anything about you that people might not know and you’d like to share?
In Primary School, I was never satisfied with the big images my teacher used to reward me for giving the correct answers; I didn’t like the polystyrene figurines that we had to paint once we had collected 3 big images either. I would have preferred money.
10. What is the first thing you do in the morning? Any routine?
I don’t really have a routine. I just eat a bowl of Chocapic cereal and dress for work.
11. Your favorite App?
I don’t really use apps except for Snapchat because it’s free for texting.
12. Favorite meal?
Any meat dish, preferably veal cutlets, and tomato sauce
13. Favorite quote?
– Who is this? Your brother?
– That’s my wife !
(Legolas talking to Gloin in the Mirkwood forest – The Hobbit 2 The Desolation of Smaug)
14. Who inspires you the most?
Truthfully, there isn’t really a person that inspires me because I feel like people tend to rest on the laurels of the people they admire. I much rather do things myself.
That being said, I recognize the well-deserved successes of people like Elon Musk and Bill Gates, just to name a few.
On a more historic level, I look at big leaders or military leaders who stood out in their time through the battles (ideological or military) that they led for the purpose of protecting their people and their ideals. I’m thinking of Leonidas and Vercingetorix, among others. History is filled with such people who, still to this day, are present in the collective imagination.
15. Your best memory at Julie Desk?
Playing Paintball during integration weekend was very memorable but I have to admit that seeing Pierre-Louis fall down the slack line and break a few ribs was rather funny.
Thank you, Fred, for giving us a glimpse of your world and your sense of humor.
Any reactions? Feel free to leave us a comment!
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