Our people are core to who we are. With a year spent at Artium comes a brief reflection of the path to craft, successes along the way, and how to continue to learn and grow. Today we sit down with Aaron Weinberg, a senior software engineer, to discuss his path to engineering, leading his first project, and how an openness to learning has helped him grow.

‍What is your craft? What brought you to it?
I am a senior software engineer at Artium! I came into engineering like most people my generation because I was super, super, super into video games, and I used to play all the time. I was involved in robotics early on, and that’s where I first started programming. I went to Chapman for college in part because they offered a game development minor. Later on, I was fortunate to land at CoreLogic, a real estate data company partnered with Pivotal at the time. This is where I learned practices like XP and TDD. I attribute most, if not all, of my career to those practices. Being in an environment like that is not just a good way to build software, it’s also the most enjoyable. An environment where we work as a team rather than as individuals.

What are you most proud of from your past year?
I am most proud of getting the chance to lead my first project. It was exciting leading that engagement and teaching our client how to build software the Artium way. I love seeing the look on people’s faces when they realize their workday can be fun. These practices let you spend the day riffing with your pair and you don’t have to be 110% serious.  You can get quality work done that matters while also having fun.

How do you keep learning / refining your craft?
For me, it’s knowing that whether you’re the most or least senior person in the room, there’s always something you can learn from your team. Whether it’s the same tech stack, skill set, or discipline, there’s always something you don’t know; you just have to be open to hearing it. I feel like openness to learning has been my most important acquired skill, and I’ve benefited from embracing the fact that everyone has something to teach you.