Working at a Korean Startup as an Engineer from Nepal
Tags: Recruiting, Startup, Startup Life, Drone, Construction

Hello Aayush! Please briefly introduce yourself!

Hello! My name is Aayush, one of the Backend Engineers here at Angelswing. I joined Angelswing approximately two years ago on September 3, 2018, and have been part of the team since! My responsibilities include various things from designing, developing and maintaining various features in the backend to doing a lot of research work for new features and issues.

Working at a Korean Startup from Nepal wouldn’t have been an easy decision, but what made you join Angelswing?

I wanted to expand my skill sets and challenge myself to experience new things. The only foreign interaction I had before joining Angelswing was when I used to play online games with people from around the world. (Laughs)

Before joining Angelswing, I worked at a company here in Nepal, but I thought there were limitations as to how much I could grow.

I wanted to experience the challenges and work culture of an international company. I also wanted to be a part of something big and something different. I wanted to be part of a company that provides a different kind service than what I have been exposed to. Seeing that I’ve learned the intersections of GIS and drone data at Angelswing, I think I was able to satisfy my desires to learn something different.

What are the differences from when you worked at your previous company in Nepal?

The biggest difference is definitely the workplace culture. Everyone is so driven, extremely proactive, and respectful. There are all kinds of people with different kinds of skill sets working together and I have found lots of opportunities to grow and learn from each one of them.

There is a time difference between Korea and Nepal. How do you collaborate for work?

I start the day pretty early, 6.00–6.30 AM NPT (9.15–9.45 AM KST), for two reasons. One, to align the work hours with the Team at Korea and to make some time in the evening for personal time. I start work by scanning through any messages that are in Slack. I reply to any messages that are related to me and if there are some bug reports that are related to Backend and are not already being looked at by other members, I take that case and provide a solution for the issue. Most of the time, it does not take long but there are rare cases where we have to invest a lot of time for a report.

Then I write my daily stand up where I inform the rest of the team about what I will be focusing on for the day. Then I start doing my work. Depending on the day and schedule, I also attend a number of meetings where I provide the update about the work I am doing as well as brainstorm for new features and ideas. But for the most part, I sit in front of my computer and work.

Regarding the type of work I do as a backend engineer, it really depends on what we have on our hands. Sometimes I will be developing a new endpoint for our backend server, sometimes I will be researching new or existing features, or sometimes writing scripts to get some jobs done in the cloud. There is a huge array of things we do as Backend Engineers.

What project/work are you currently focusing on?

I was recently involved in implementing a new feature that allows our clients to compare their design with the real terrain and compute the amount of earth to fill or extract. We call it Design Based Volume Calculation (DBVC).

Right now, my focus is on making improvements on a current feature. Since it is one of the most important features that clients need, we are working on making it better and more accurate so that our client can make full use of it.

For over 2 years, what was the most meaningful work you’ve done at Angelswing?

There are a couple like DBVC and Elevation Profile. But if I have to choose one, I think Elevation Profile (which allows users to draw a line segment and see the terrain change along that line) would be the one. Elevation Profile required some extensive research work as well as designing and developing it from scratch.

No matter how a remote work environment is well-organized, there should be some difficulties. What is the hardest thing about working remotely in Nepal?

In terms of resources, it would be the internet and power issues. Compared to Korea, Nepal has less IT Infrastructure that sometimes I lose my job regardless of my will. But in terms of work itself, for me it was and still is communication. It is not as easy to put forward your ideas or your findings as it is when you are in person. Since most of our coworkers are Korean and I don’t speak Koren, we communicate through English and translation. In this case, sometimes I can’t share my idea 100% because things get lost in translation or I am not able to explain it as well as I could have if I was speaking in my native language. But I learned to get over this by writing some extensive reports/briefings with as much detail as possible and getting active assistance from our teammates.

On the contrary, what are the advantages of working remotely in Nepal

Able to really focus on my work is a big benefit. I don’t have to waste time commuting to and from work and don’t have to worry about getting tired. Other people say they cannot focus when they work from home, but that is quite opposite for me. Compared to on-premise work I used to do in my previous company, I believe I am more productive.

Another thing is that I can be around with my loved ones. This might not be true for everyone due to cultural differences. But being the eldest child in Nepal, I have responsibilities to look after my parents and home. Actually, I could not join Angelswing if I had to work in Korea office. I am getting married next month, and remote working is even more beneficial as I have more families to look after.

Don’t you sometimes miss colleagues in Korea?

Of course! Last fall, Angelswing invited me and my girlfriend to visit Korea, and we loved it. It was my first time leaving Nepal, and even flying abroad since I was born. Communicating face-to-face and going on a fall trip with my colleagues, we got even closer. It would be great if colleagues in Korea visit Nepal, but it’s sad that they can’t because of COVID-19.

What is good about working for Angelswing as a back-end engineer?

Challenges and constant learning! You get exposed to so many different challenges along the way that you are constantly learning new things. I first joined Angelswing as a Ruby on Rails Back-end engineer. But along the way, as I started taking on different tasks and languages such as GIS, Python Scripting, Flask, NodeJS, AWS, Shell Scripting and more, my technical skills improved a lot. Now I am not just a good developer. I can also broaden my perspective on industry and technology as I naturally get interested in new areas.

What are the required qualifications of a Backend Engineer at Angelswing?

First and foremost, and kind of obviously, better understanding of back-end tech stack and writing better, cleaner, and simpler code. But it is so much more than just knowing how to write a RestFUL API.

Angelswing isn’t just about developing a web application. You need to have interests and understanding in construction, geography, photogrammetry, and other relevant fields as well. This doesn’t mean that Angelswing expects you to be an expert on everything from the beginning. In fact, no one can. I am a huge advocate of hard work and believe that even if you know nothing about something, hard work will get you through it eventually. Being open to any challenges thrown at you with an eagerness to learn is what Angelswing signifies the most. Learn, grow, and solve problems. One step at a time.

Is there a milestone you’d like to set up at Angelswing in the future?

One milestone that I continuously had in my mind is to have an Angelswing’s branch here in Nepal. Establishing a branch office in Nepal, we can expand our skill set and our service one step towards global reach.

Is there advice you would have for an engineer in Nepal who wants to join Angelswing?

As I mentioned before, if you have passion to learn, go for it. Even though culture and language are different, we have great team members who encourage and motivate you. We welcome anyone who is willing to learn Angelswing’s culture and product quickly. We will support you to hone your skills with all the resources we have, so join us!