Say hello to Bobby, a Software Engineer here at Yelp! Bobby joined Yelp as an engineer on our Revenue team in August 2014, and today, he is a lead engineer on our Biz Web Foundation Engineering team. To celebrate his recent Yelpiversary, Bobby is sharing a look into his#FiveStarCareerstory.
Tell us about your journey at Yelp
作为一种新的大学毕业生,我的journey at Yelp began as a Software Engineer on the Revenue team where I worked on our billing, ordering, and payment system and built financial reporting tools for our Accounting teams. After a little over a year, I was given the opportunity to manage a small part of the Business Monetization team. I continued as an Engineering Manager on that team for about six years. As the team grew and evolved, I managed various sub-teams, and at one point, I had over 20 people reporting to me! About a year ago, I decided to transition back to an individual contributor role, and I am now a Lead Engineer on the Biz Web Foundation team building the platform for the Biz site. Our team builds the tools that allow other engineers at Yelp to build great experiences for business owners.
I am so grateful for all of the growth opportunities Yelp has given me, as well as the space to try new things and change roles!
What does a typical day look like in your role?
Generally, I have a handful of meetings throughout the day, including one-on-ones with teammates or various folks in our org to plan our upcoming work. I also spend time responding to engineers’ questions on Slack, commenting on their technical proposals, and reviewing their code before it is deployed. I typically dedicate a few hours to my individual work, which varies depending on the time of year. Sometimes, I am simply writing code for an ongoing project, and other times, I am working on documents or slide decks to develop the team’s roadmap.
What is your advice to someone who wants to pursue a career in tech?
My advice to anyone who wants to pursue a tech career is that it’s never too late to start! I took a more traditional route into tech, but I have worked with many fantastic people who took non-traditional routes, sometimes much later in life. Often those people bring a perspective that a Computer Science graduate like myself cannot provide, which is super valuable. The other piece of advice I have is to develop your soft skills. Even the most brilliant programmer will struggle to deliver impact if they are not able to communicate and collaborate well.
What is your favorite part of the work that you do?
我最喜欢的部分我做的是能够工作make other engineers’ lives easier. I primarily work on internal tools and frameworks now, so my users are other Yelp engineers. I get to see firsthand how our tooling is used and get direct feedback from our users about what’s working well and what can be improved. It’s incredibly rewarding when someone tells our team that something we built saved them time or effort.
How does Yelp provide you with support in and out of work?
The flexible working hours and generouspaid time off policyhave all contributed to a fantastic work-life balance. I also really appreciate the ability to take a mental health day if I need one.
Want to work with Bobby?
From day one of your career at Yelp, you will have access to our five-star benefits including monthly wellness reimbursements, 401(k) matching, generous PTO and wellness time off, and more. Check out our open opportunities and apply today!
