Hi Everyone!
I’m Kaan Bobaç. I was born on April 8, 1991, in Mustafakemalpaşa, Bursa, Turkey. After completing my high school education at İbrahim Önal Anatolian Teacher High School, I began my journey in 2009 by enrolling in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at İzmir Institute of High Technology.
After graduating from university in 2014, I started my professional career as a Software Engineer at Huawei Turkey R&D Center. During the initial two years of my career, I primarily focused on software development using C++.
Later, our team transitioned to Java technologies. Since that transition, up until today, I have predominantly worked on projects related to Java and Python. In addition to software development, I have also taken on the role of Scrum Master in various projects within Agile Software Teams. In 2017, I obtained the PSM I certification. Following this certification, being a Scrum Master became a significant aspect of my career responsibilities.
In the fourth year of my career, in 2018, I was promoted to Engineering Manager. This was a development I had been looking forward to for a long time, and it brought me immense happiness. I was expected to lead a team of around fifteen individuals, working on diverse projects with various technologies. Within a year, we managed to build a cohesive team that worked productively and had so much fun together despite its heterogeneity. In addition to my managerial role, I continued to work as a Software Developer and Scrum Master on projects for another two years.
As we entered 2020, our leadership came to me with an opportunity to lead a team and project that would be built from scratch. While I realized that the project offered a great learning opportunity and could significantly contribute to my career, I was also nervous about its demanding effort. Nonetheless, I accepted the challenge by thinking, “Fortune favors the bold.”
As it turned out, my assumptions were correct. After a year of day and night teamwork with enormous effort, the project successfully reached its initial customers. I found myself leading a team of 40 individuals as a Head of Engineering. Following approximately six months in this role, my wife and I, who was also my colleague, decided to conclude our careers at our employer and relocate abroad. In September 2021, we began our new roles as Software Engineers in Berlin.
In Berlin, I work within a relatively boutique team, handling smaller responsibilities as a Software Engineer and Scrum Master. Throughout my career, I have been involved with various technologies, including Java, Kotlin, C++, Javascript, Angular, React, and Python. In addition to software development, I have worked to expand my expertise as a T-Shaped Software Developer by delving into areas like DevOps, building CI/CD systems from scratch, and architectural design.
After working as a Software Engineer in Berlin for one year, I felt like I had gained a good understanding of the work culture and environment in Europe. With this confidence, I felt ready to take on management roles. I decided to apply for Engineering Manager positions, and this marked the beginning of my journey as an Engineering Manager at Zalando.
Stepping into the role of an Engineering Manager in Europe was a fresh and exciting challenge. What made it even more interesting was that I was starting in the e-commerce domain, a realm that was entirely new to me. Joining Zalando opened the doors to this new world, and my journey began that would test and expand my managerial skills in ways I hadn’t imagined.
Zalando provided me with opportunities to enhance my leadership abilities. Collaborating with highly skilled professionals, working with cross-functional teams, and refining strategies provided me with a treasure trove of learnings and experiences.
Reflecting on my nine-year journey in the software industry, I’ve gained valuable experiences and learnings as both a software engineer and an Engineering Manager. Through this blog, I look forward to sharing them with you. I’m excited to recount the challenges, breakthroughs, and revelations that have shaped my journey. As I engage with these narratives, I hope to not only offer valuable perspectives but also foster a sense of camaraderie among fellow professionals who are navigating similar paths.
Beyond the Professional Realm, spending quality time with friends is what truly brings me joy on a social level. Meeting up with friends in the evening, engaging in hours of conversations on various topics at a cozy place, sharing laughter, and wrapping up the night with a sentiment of “We had such a great time” is my favorite social activity.
Sports, on the other hand, have been a consistent presence in my life since childhood. Basketball, which I began playing at a very young age, easily tops the list as my number one sporting interest. I enjoy both playing and watching basketball. However, my passion extends beyond basketball to exploring various other sports. While I might not have excelled as a competitive athlete, engaging in sports as an amateur has always been enriching.
In fact, this personal blog isn’t my first writing experience. I’ve been attempting to write something since I was quite young. For me, it’s the most enjoyable way of self-expression. Moreover, the notion that a written piece is a product of your own creation and sharing it with others is highly motivating.
It was in sixth grade that I decided to pursue writing seriously after my Turkish language compositions were appreciated by my teachers. Subsequently, as I received awards in poetry and composition contests, I found even more delight in writing and believed I could take it further.
Thus, whenever I found the time or had an observation, I started writing on these topics. My writings resided in a folder on my computer for quite some time. Then, for reasons I can’t distinctly remember, I transferred all these writings onto a flash drive and visited a local newspaper in Mustafakemalpaşa. I asked, “I have these writings, would you be interested in publishing them?” They accepted the flash drive and my phone number. They said they would review my writings and get in touch.
After about a week, they called and informed me that they would start publishing my writings and asked me to provide them with a piece every week. Of course, this wasn’t a salaried job or something I was paid for per article. But having my writings, even if locally, appear in a newspaper and occasionally receiving feedback from my father’s teacher friends was more precious to me than money back then. They even gave me a column name: “Genç Bakış” (Young Perspective). So, I continued writing until I entered university.
Why a Blog? With university and work, producing something creatively was challenging. However, I always enjoyed sharing solutions to problems I solved, new knowledge gained, and creating engaging content. Even if these weren’t necessarily literary masterpieces, the act of sharing knowledge and producing valuable content still intrigued me.
When transitioning from C++ to Java, I tried to compile all the knowledge I acquired into a blog, albeit amateurish. Receiving feedback, no matter how rudimentary the work was, brought me joy. However, despite my efforts to allocate time, my work commitments at the time prevented me from taking this endeavor further.
As the years went by in my professional life and new experiences accumulated, I realized that documenting these experiences somewhere and returning to my beloved act of writing from a different perspective, namely through the lens of my professional life, had become a sudden goal.
Though the new idea excited me immensely, as my roles and responsibilities expanded, finding time to commit to this extra endeavor became increasingly difficult. While there were more topics and experiences to share, finding the effort and time to share them became progressively challenging.
When my wife and I started searching for jobs abroad, I realized that the experiences of others, which were shared in various blogs, became invaluable to us. Through research on different blogs, we learned a wealth of information, from the job search process to visa applications. Naturally, as the process advanced, we gained unique experiences in addition to the information we had read. Often, I would think, “I must definitely write about these insights.” Creating a blog encompassing my experiences, a venture I had postponed for years, now felt more meaningful than ever.
After settling into life in Berlin, adapting to work and the social scene, I began working on realizing my long-standing dream. While I initially started with our experiences of finding jobs and settling in Germany, this foundation would allow me to build a bridge to technical subjects and my professional experiences that I had long wanted to share.
From job searches to our experiences in Germany and beyond, sharing these experiences and research, while being helpful to others, would also mark a rewarding starting point for me. And so, I rolled up my sleeves and began to write.
What Comes Next? While dedicating time to blogging requires extra effort and time, the rewarding feeling of connecting with readers and sharing experiences far outweighs the challenges. I look forward to expanding this blog to cover more technical topics and insights from my journey as an Engineering Manager. Additionally, I’m eager to introduce English support to the website, enhancing its accessibility and enabling a broader audience to benefit from its content.
Thank you for joining me on this journey, and I hope you find the content valuable and enjoyable. Stay tuned for more insights, stories, and experiences as we continue exploring the dynamic world of software engineering and professional growth. Take care!
Kaan Bobac 