Employee of the Week Interview with Dmitry Andrianov

Of course, it is! If the problem remains unsolvable, Dimas can't solve it either, but then there's a chance to have a nice chat anyway =)

Does the same thing apply to development?

That's the way legends are born. Usually it's the one who comes with the problem that finds the solution. Then it goes like a detective film; nobody remembers the subject of the discussion but always remembers who they had it with =)

Do you consider yourself to be an irreplaceable person?

I used to feel like that. But being irreplaceable can bring more problems than pleasure. If something exists that only you can do, be ready to be consumed with it. As a rule it usually happens at the wrong time, when you are engaged in another case where you are irreplaceable as well.

But since, at the present, we are recruiting more and more people, being irreplaceable isn't so common anymore. Most of the new employees don't even know I exist. The propaganda is quite wretchedly organized! ;=)

How did it happen that you helped out on a project you were not involved with?

Well, first of all, it's difficult to say I was engaged directly in the project. It was an infrastructural problem, meaning beyond the project framework. It happened by chance. Artem (Artem Artemyev) faced the problem of a standing VPN. He was ready to share this problem with the first person who came by, and I just happened to be that person. I didn't think it would be good to refuse him and maybe even dangerous in some respects (Artem goes in for sports, and not all by chance I suppose). And what's more, I had a growing feeling of responsibility that day and I honestly tried to finish everything I started.

How do you manage your time between the roles of lead developer and administrator? What projects do you participate in and what roles do you have?

If you mean administrator as in system administrating, there's practically nothing to talk about. I administrate only my personal interests. When I need something simple I can go by the department of system administrators. So the role is un-system administrating :=)

At present I only fully participate in the Secure Media Delivery Branded Distributor Site as a manager/coordinator. I was literally just now engaged with Network Physics as a developer.

You're often seen at the HR department. Both you and Yury (Yury Kabrits) carry out a lot of interviews. People who have come through it say there was nothing to be afraid of. Would you comment on this?

You want to make interesting conclusions from the fact that we are often seen at the HR. A lot of reasons are possible:

• I like to be at HR
• I like communicating with Jury and there's no other place to do it
• It's the shortest way to the coffee-machine

Interviewing and testing candidates is work like any other work that gets boring when occupied with one and the same task. I like to have fun too!

And it's a myth that our interviews are terrifying. We are very kind and quite friendly. (Those who don't believe it can disguise themselves, come to our interview, and see for themselves!) :=)

The difficulty of the tests is another myth. They simply aren't that difficult because they are directed at some basic knowledge that every developer should know. We also provide two to three times the amount of time that any good developer needs for finding the most "correct" solution. I think quite sincerely that any of our tests could be passed by an average developer. But besides some terribly ineffective solutions that the interviewees come up with, it often happens that the test is not completed at all. I can't understand this phenomenon. It may be that the very act of test taking has a paralyzing impact on people.

You've been working here for a long time and have seen many different things happen and changes take place. As one of DataArt's oldest employees, what are your expectations and perspectives?

It seems to me that DataArt has gone through some very interesting periods. As a result, we now have a sound name and most of our clients are delighted with us. This means we are fine fellows! We are super!

The projects we carry out now are all in different fields. That's the best way to keep from falling into a rut and suffering from boredom. So my perspective seems to be quite an optimistic one. I like the changes taking place now much more than some of the changes that took place in the past.

As for expectations, I'm impatiently waiting for the revival of our volleyball-team! But I'm not involved with organizing anything. I'm just sitting quietly and relying on Pako (Pavel Kozak).