What attracted you to Splendor?

Working and living in San Francisco gave me the opportunity to work in a startup setting for many companies. The difference is that a startup company in San Francisco has massive funding and is often 100-200 employees deep right from the start. Coming home to New Jersey was a big change, but I was confident that my variety of skills would be better utilized in a small office setting. Being a team member feels better than being a hired gun.

What’s your favorite part about working in Red Bank, New Jersey?

I grew up around Red Bank so the nostalgia is my favorite part. Before I walk to my car after work every day, I usually take a lap around Broad/Front Street to take a look at old venues, stomping grounds, and old hangout spots.

Favorite TV show?

Forensic Files

Describe the project you’ve worked on that you’re most proud of. What did you do that worked out particularly well?

One of our newest clients, Sentry Commercial, came aboard for a full branding and website rebuild. One of their requests was for us to create a mobile web application that employees could use while out on the road. I was able to integrate all of Sentry’s requests into a responsive mobile web application for Android and iOS.

What are your biggest pet peeves as a professional lead developer?

Sloppy code, vague directions, low budgets.

What do you try to avoid in your coding projects?

Hacking. Often a client won’t want their whole site rebuilt, instead they will want you to “fix” their current site. This usually leads to hacking components to make them work with the current build rather than building a site from scratch that YOU know will work.. because you built it. A site is only as good as the developer who built it. If that developer is an amateur, so is the site build.

What’s some things you enjoy daily while working at Splendor?

Morning coffee, office dogs, listening to Michele chew on carrots.

In Zak’s free time he…

Runs a side company doing rapid prototyping for web applications and web services.

What aspect of your personality adds the most value to your job?
Out of the box thinking. Often a client will ask for a specific integration but will have a very small budget. This requires us to formulate ways to fit their budget and give them what they want. Adam and I are particularly good at coming up with solutions like this when required, while still delivering quality work.

Any advice for young developers looking for direction?

Just start. You’re either going to go to college for 4 years and come out with a diploma or you’re going to teach yourself. In both of these cases you’re going to be going after the same jobs. 9/10 times the company will prefer 10 years of hands on experience with projects and clients over 4 years of college where you just did some homework.