‘What appealed to me? The chance to try something new’

Taras Buchynskyi, who used to work in Poland, didn’t just cross the border in a literal sense; at Capgemini in the Netherlands the Salesforce Developer also expanded his figurative limits. In the process, he became better acquainted with new aspects of Salesforce - and of himself.

“The new part for me isn’t just the country where I work and the product segment that the client is active in. I’m also learning new aspects of Salesforce. In addition to the familiar CRM part for internal purposes, the platform also features products for things like sales, marketing and retail. One of them is the Experience Cloud, which we use for the loyalty program. I feel at home using it now, but when I joined that aspect was completely new to me. I knew the basics, but I had to master the rest myself. It was a tough challenge.”

“Fortunately, my Polish colleague was telling the truth when he told about the quality of the Dutch team. I’ve already learned a lot from my Capgemini colleagues for the Experience Cloud. For example, my team has a global technical architect with 18 years of experience as a programmer. Whenever I have a question about something, I give him a call and he gives me a push in the right direction.”

“The roles I perform are also new to me. In addition to being a developer, I’m also a consultant; a position where you have to be able to convince your clients about your ideas. That means you have to be able to talk to people, which doesn’t always come naturally to developers like me. When you spend all your time looking at a computer monitor, you don’t develop your speaking skills, ha ha! But in this role, I don’t have a choice. When the client has questions, they come to me. I’ve learned that it’s not just about talking; it’s also about listening. I listen to their question and brainstorm together with the developers to provide an answer.”

“I also hope to become a team lead eventually. I already support my colleagues in their day-to-day work, and I share some coding tips. It’s a role that I’ve more or less grown into. When the last team lead moved to a different project, I noticed that the client started sending questions my way. Why? Maybe because I’m just extroverted enough, so they recognize my face. In any case, I hope that I’ll be able to do the same for my colleagues that the experienced architect has done for me. By dealing with them with understanding, and without criticism. By not pre-chewing solutions for them. I’d rather tell people what they could do differently, and encourage them to try it for themselves.”

“I’m happy with where I’m at right now. Our team is achieving some fantastic results. This spring, we delivered the preliminary version of the program in the UK. After just one month, almost 1,000 customers had signed up. And the summer competition for best amateur photographer received hundreds of submissions. There was a lot of interaction among the participants, a lot of interest in our client’s brand – and the photos were amazing. It felt good to contribute to something that had such a big tangible impact. We really helped our client build a bond with customers.”

“I can look back on an excellent beginning in my personal and professional life as well. I’ve expanded my technical knowledge and gained important consulting and management skills.  It’s tough at times, of course. But that’s precisely what I was hoping for: a job where I’m stimulated to push my boundaries. Both Capgemini and the client challenge me to take on new responsibilities and try new things. And I think it’s amazing!”