Q&A with Jonathon
Lead Engineer
LEARNING EXPERIENCE ENGINEERING TEAM
We sat down with Jonathon and found out more about him.
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I am super proud of the work I got to do on the Learning Lab, our home for self-study and practice.
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My favorite aspect of my job is the role I get to take in advocating for our users. Learners come in all shapes and sizes, with diverse sets of needs. By leaning into what the web does best, being responsive and adaptive, we can create experiences that are accessible to the broadest spectrum of users possible.
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My life on the Internet started in the late '90s when my 12-year-old sister taught me HTML to help me make websites for local punk bands I was already designing flyers and merch for. I quickly developed a passion for web development and web standards, and the rest, more or less, is history.
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Before an engineer, I consider myself an artist. Most of the work I make is connected to ages-old craft traditions, so in turns, I'm a quilter, carver, and collager. I'm looking to add weaver to that list in the coming months. In the digital space, I'd love to find more time to explore generative art-making, leveraging openFrameworks.
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IDE: Currently it's VS Code because of its ecosystem / tooling. Not a loyalist though.
Favorite language: JavaScript is my main jam.
Favorite OS: MacOS
Favorite keyboard shortcut: CMD+C, CMD+V and CMD+R are definitely the most frequently used (CMD+T is essential in VS Code too)
Playlist: I create monthly playlists of what I'm listening to and enjoying. A lot of ambient and instrumental stuff, with the occasional blues and metal mixed in. Check 'em out! (https://open.spotify.com/user/fasteater?si=62fa12a199bb4b3c)
Favorite App: Don't really have a favorite. Maybe Sky Guide for iOS? Can't live without? Slack probably
Favorite Game: Does Euchre count?
My Work Area
Surrounded by a few of my favorite things: music, art, and plants.
Jonathon Describes Our Culture At Varsity Tutors
What are some of the things that make VT remote friendly? Great technical support/resources and excellent peer engagement via slack
Does your team have any social online or offline activities / get togethers?Yes! We have regular "social hours," usually on Friday mornings.
What is the work / life balance like for your team? Pretty good and getting better. Dev, my manager, is always emphasizing a healthy work/life balance. We have a lot of flexibility in our schedules and are encouraged to take time off when needed/wanted.
How would you describe the culture here in general, things you like and things we need to improve on? The culture here is generally very collaborative, and we're regularly encouraged to learn and grow. We're also empowered to take risks and try new things.
Work with Jonathon
A Day In The Life of the LEX Team
Every day starts with copious amounts of coffee (ask me for recs, I'm a bit of a coffee nerd *cough* snob). I then settle into work by checking my email/Slack and reviewing open PRs. The rest of the day is usually a mix of meetings, code/design/architectural reviews, pair programming/rubber ducking, and heads-down coding.
Tell us what will a new-hire be doing or working on? Designing and building the future of learning!
How big is the team? The LEX team is around 15 folks currently.
How does the team do their work; kanban, waterfall, or sprints (how long are the sprints)? We're, by and large, a kanban team.
How often do you release code (hourly, daily, weekly…)? As often as we can. Sometimes several times a day, sometimes a couple of times a week. It all depends on the product or feature we're working on, really.
Do you do design or architectural reviews? Yes! We have time set aside for team-wide architecture reviews every Monday morning. Design reviews are a little more ad hoc but an essential part of our product lifecycle.