From Volunteer to RPA Developer

Grab a cup of coffee or tea, maybe a few snacks, and enjoy this article as one of our colleagues shares his personal journey: from childhood memories to becoming a self-sufficient RPA Developer.

Ever since I was a kid, it was clear that I had a passion for computers and technology. While most kids my age preferred playing with toys, I found computers increasingly fascinating. Even though he didn’t know much about them, my father tried to teach me how to use one. However, as the years passed, the student eventually surpassed the master. I was simply curious and always asked questions that I had to look up online because my dad did not know how to answer them anymore. Questions like: “Why won’t game X work?” or “Why is program Y running so slowly?”. I remember the first time I was asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I said I wanted to be a judge or a lawyer. But in seventh grade, looking back, I realized that IT was a true passion, something I could see myself doing forever.

My curiosity used to be fueled mostly by video games, but from that moment on, my focus shifted to programming, knowing that I had to master it at a high level to get into a top university. Through hard work and perseverance, I achieved my goal: being admitted to the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science at Babeș-Bolyai University, specializing in computer science.

I had heard all sorts of stories about student life, most of them painting a positive experience. I remember high school, when college students were visiting us and saying things like “It’s so cool to have classes in the evening because you can sleep more” or “There’s no homework in college.”. I started university with these ideas in mind, but reality hit me harder than I could have ever imagined. Looking back and talking with former classmates from college, I’ve realized that university was a very different experience for each one of us. Some loved it, others were indifferent and found it easy, but for me, it was a rollercoaster ride. When it came to education, I was never indifferent, but due to those preconceived ideas, I thought I could take it easier than in high school. As a result, I ended my first exam session with two failed exams and one missed due to COVID. I passed them all in the retake session, but that so-called “vacation” week was filled with stress, frustration, and sadness.

That was when I learned an important lesson: if you want to be good at what you do, you must be consistent. The moment you let your guard down, you fall behind. This realization pushed me to get back on track, to be more diligent, and from then on, my exam sessions mostly went smoothly. However, a part of me still feels a slight regret when I hear how others, even from my own faculty, went to all sorts of parties and events while I spent hours on assignments, projects, or studying. I feel that my social side wanted to develop more during that period, but it didn’t get the chance.

Many people say they had fun and met new people during university, but for me, it seemed increasingly clear that this wouldn’t happen. That was until I started hearing the word “Hermes” more and more around me. I remember being in my first year when I first heard about it and learned that it was our faculty’s volunteer organization. I wanted to join right away, but since my first semester was online, I hesitated. I knew I’d miss out on the real volunteer experience I wanted to discover. Discover, because I had never been part of a volunteer organization before, even though I knew such experiences would help me in the future.

I joined Hermes in my second year, feeling a little nervous about managing my free time and studies, but I handled it well. I managed to attend meetings, learned how the organization worked, and in December of that year, I participated in my first event as a volunteer: “Destresiunea”. “Destresiunea” is an event dedicated to first-year students, helping them prepare for their first exam session by offering advice and guidance (something I really could have used a year earlier). It was an unforgettable experience where I got to interact with and help many students while also having fun and relaxing. This experience motivated me to get even more involved, leading me to participate in more events like “Careers in IT” and “SSMI” (where I accidentally became an unofficial bartender).

Without realizing it, volunteering at Hermes became a refuge where I could make up for the social life and fun I felt I was missing due to university. At Hermes, I met a lot of people, made new friends, and at the same time, by participating in different events, I felt that I was helping others while also growing personally. I learned to work in a team, communicate more effectively, and socialize more easily.

At my first “Careers in IT” event as a volunteer, I heard about Automatify for the first time. I thought the little robot they had at their booth was really cool, but I didn’t have enough time to work on my own robot to apply for their internship. By my third year, things had changed. I was about to graduate and knew that by the end of university, I needed to find a job. So, I wanted to make the most of the event and check out every internship opportunity available.

Automatify seemed like a great fit for me by offering an attractive summer internship, which aimed at retaining all their interns (something I really appreciated, considering that more and more internships were becoming competitive), and it started right after I finished my thesis. I already knew they worked in RPA, though I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but this time I finally got to see what UiPath looked like, and which I got to think at first that it resembled a “weird Word interface.” However, after talking with them at the booth, RPA started to sound pretty good. It seemed like an interesting way of programming and a field worth exploring once. They mentioned that the recruitment process would begin in two or three days, so, that very evening, I applied. After a test that challenged my thinking and a reasonably difficult interview, I joined the team.

I remember showing up to my interview looking presentable and healthy. But on my first day of the internship, I was still presentable, but sick and with a broken hand from football. Still, I didn’t let that stop me. I was more determined than ever to prove what I could do, what I knew, but more importantly, how much I was willing to learn. The internship focused heavily on learning and development, emphasizing “how much you want to know” rather than “how much you already know.”. Probably my biggest mistake at the time was comparing myself to the other interns when it came to how quickly I was going through the study materials. I’ve always been someone who pays close attention to details, but because of that, I tend to be slower. Seeing others move through the material so fast made me feel like I was falling behind. However, in the end, I realized that this approach worked out better for me – I completed my tasks on time and was even given new challenges along the way.

At the end of the internship, I was offered the opportunity to stay, and I took it. I made this decision after seeing the attitude of my colleagues and mentors, who were always supportive and helpful. I felt that people respected us and genuinely wanted us there, encouraging us to learn so we could join them. Personally, the most important thing for me is to be allowed to work in my own style and to be respected, and here, I truly felt that. Automatify’s ideologies also played a role, with “Working in a stress-free environment” being another key aspect for me, and the informal events organized by the team further reinforced this idea. At the same time, during the internship, I recognized the potential of this technology and felt that this was a field of programming in which I would like to continue developing.

Any downside to working at Automatify? I lose a lot at ping-pong. The competitive spirit at the table is intense, but just like I learned programming, I’ll learn to play better.