A Decade in Dev: Mikołaj on Lessons Learned, Ownership, and Tech Recruitment Path

Mikołaj is a senior fullstack developer with a career ten years in the making. In this interview, he opens up about lessons in self-care, why he looks for "ownership" when interviewing candidates, and whether the "dashboard" era of software might be coming to an end.

Happy 10th anniversary in software development! Looking back, which sectors do you remember working in the most?

Most of my memories are related to the public sector because I worked for a long time with universities and public offices. I felt I had a great deal of influence there, especially on end users and their experience.

I also have a lot of memories connected to working in e-commerce; I was part of that industry when COVID struck and everything changed so fast. We had to adapt products to new realities overnight, just like many others.

If you could go back in time, what would you say to yourself at the start of your career?

I would say to focus on taking care of myself, not just my work ambitions. For years I took too much on my shoulders because of my willingness to learn, but at some point, it just wasn’t healthy.

Another thing I’d say is to be wiser about which projects to get involved in, as I also did a lot of freelance work after hours. Actually, let me take that back – I think some things were just meant to be. Even if some of my decisions were bad, they taught me many lessons, so let’s scratch that second piece of advice! 🙂

You’ve been testing the OpenAI Apps SDK. What was your experience with it? Do you think we’ll be "chatting" with our apps soon?

I tested it on a side project specifically built for trying out new solutions – an app for event management. It made it much easier to import participant lists and use the chat to invite them with emails built right there in the conversation.

I specifically wanted to see if this truly has the potential to improve the user experience and provide real value, and I think it will work well for many apps. If you’re already using ChatGPT, staying within the app to complete tasks is very convenient.

It also gives digital products a chance to be discovered by entirely new groups of users. While it might not be for every app, I can definitely see a future where we spend more time interacting with ChatGPT rather than clicking through traditional dashboards.

Learn more on what OpenAI’s new releases mean for digital products.

It’s been a year since you joined Bright Inventions. How has the experience been so far?

It’s been great. I’ve found exactly what I was looking for when I joined: closer cooperation with partners, the opportunity to grow as a fullstack developer, and plenty of knowledge-sharing. Bright Inventions gives me all of that. I also really enjoy working in smaller teams; I’ve had the chance to do that here, and I can truly feel that we are all working toward the same goal.

You recently started a new role as a tech recruiter. How are you finding the start of this new career path?

It’s been a surprising journey so far, in ways I never would have expected. It turns out that time management is a crucial challenge and a skill I really need to build. Not only do I have to manage the timing of candidates' responses, but also my own questions and the flow of the conversation in general.

I have to touch on many different subjects regarding such a wide area of fullstack development; I can’t just scratch the surface because I need to evaluate a candidate’s knowledge and approach. However, these interviews can’t last forever, so finding that balance has been my biggest challenge so far.

What do you expect from candidates?

I’m looking for candidates who take ownership of the solutions they build – people who look at a product as a whole, not just from a coding perspective. It’s not just about how to build a feature, but how it will influence the user. I really appreciate it when a developer cares about the user experience.

And what about you? What do you expect from yourself as a recruiter?

I expect to keep getting better at recruitment and developing my skills in that area, especially when it comes to navigating the interview. I also want to focus on providing valuable feedback. We provide initial feedback during the interview and then a more elaborate version afterward; I’m still working on perfecting that "on-the-spot" feedback during the conversation itself.

What do you remember about your own job interview at Bright Inventions?

It was actually that interview that convinced me I wanted to join the team. I was quite stressed at first because the interview was supposed to take 2.5 hours, which felt rather long, so I didn’t know what to expect. But once it started, the atmosphere was so kind that the stress just evaporated.

We had this inspiring discussion about technologies and programming approaches. I also really enjoyed the soft skills part of the interview; we talked quite broadly about meaningful things including priorities at work, work-life balance and personal development, which gave me a great teaser of the company's mindset and the people working here. I felt I would fit there like a glove.

But it wasn't all roses! I remember being very tired afterward, it was really a lot. That’s why I totally understand when people prefer to divide it into two separate interviews, which is also an option we offer.

What are your travel plans for 2026?

I’m going to Madeira in February. Aside from that, I have lots of ideas, but I try not to plan too far ahead. I also try to take weekend trips nearby. We just went to Kashubia with friends for a digital detox – no phones, no TV, nothing all weekend. We spent time close to nature, even having a campfire in December.

How was the digital detox?

We were in a big group, so there was a lot to do together. We’re also a very creative bunch of people, so we could easily come up with our own games and entertainment. What was interesting was how often during conversations we felt the need to look something up online – to verify a fact or check something. In the end, it gave us the reflection that maybe we don’t need to look up everything; it might not be that important after all.

However, I think a weekend was enough, a full week would be too long! I actually missed a parcel from a courier during the trip, so let’s just say there were some consequences. But I must admit, knowing that no one can call or disturb you really helps you relax fully.

Apart from traveling, what else do you do after hours?

I recently started a music production course. It’s something I knew absolutely nothing about, so it’s interesting to dive into the unknown. It’s very exciting, although the downside is that it means spending even more hours in front of the computer.

What kind of music do you want to create?

Mostly electronic music, but I try to keep an open mind. I see interesting elements in other genres that I would love to implement in my own music. I want to eventually figure out where the limits of my creativity lie.