Meet Santa Baltmane, our Full Stack .NET Developer in Amsterdam.
Every week we interview a Saltie and with Santa we talked about her passion for coding, why she joined SALT and some fun hobbies she has.
What is your role at SALT and what excites you about working with SALT?
I graduated from Amsterdam SALT Bootcamp in December 2022. Now as a SALT consultant, I continuously learn new things and improve my knowledge. The best thing about SALT that excites me the most is the people. SALT has an amazing team working who are professionals in what they do, and the best thing about them is that they absolutely love their job. It creates an awesome working atmosphere. Salties consist of very diverse, inspiring, fun, and smart individuals with whom I have great pleasure to work with. Additionally, I feel fortunate to receive a substantial amount of support and help from SALT with my further professional development even after the bootcamp, which I am very grateful for.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your work before joining SALT
I originate from the captivating country of Latvia. During my academic education, which was Economics and Business studies, I took an opportunity to participate in the Erasmus funded Study exchange program. That led me to study for one year in The Netherlands. During my studies, I gradually fell in love with the country. Therefore after graduation, I decided to stay “a bit longer” and see what NL would bring me.
I made my career in customer service and hospitality. I enjoyed the fast-paced and dynamic work environment, especially interacting with people. It was an exciting and enriching experience, both personally and professionally. It helped me to develop a range of skills, such as communication, problem-solving, and teamwork. After years of working in the customer service sector, I felt like moving on to something new. It took me quite some time to figure out what I really wanted to do in my life. It wasn’t clear until I started exploring the world of coding and programming that I realized how much joy it brought me, and I fell in love with it completely.
The desire to learn to program led me to change my full-time job to part-time and therefore gain more free time for studying. After many tutorials and some small projects, I could call myself a self-taught programmer with some foundation in place. Learning how to code on my own was challenging, as there was no teacher or instructor to guide me through. I started looking for a place where I could gain some more practical experience or a job and ended up applying and being accepted into the SALT .NET Full-stack training program.
How is it to work in the tech industry?
Overall, working in the tech industry can be a challenging and exciting experience, with plenty of opportunities for growth and development. It is the best place to work if you are passionate about innovation and problem-solving. It is fast-paced and constantly evolving. It sometimes makes me quite excited to think about what’s coming next. Also, many people who work in tech are highly intellectuals, and therefore, it is a pleasure to collaborate and work with them. It is inspiring and intellectually stimulating, personally and professionally.
Describe yourself in 3 emoticons
(=ʘᆽʘ=)∫ – Cat – I am a huge cat lover. I have two cats and cannot imagine my home without them.
(≧∇≦)/ – Laughing – I need my daily dose of humor. I love comedy, memes, funny videos, etc. For me, it is impossible to live without funny stuff.
((d[-_-]b)) – Music – Brings me joy as much as comedy. It MUST be a part of my day.
What random hobbies do you have?
I had so many different hobbies. Back in the day, I was playing volleyball and doing karate, playing video games(good old ones), playing piano, learning a new language, drawing, painting, reading web novels and manga, watching movies, anime, comedy, and TV shows, collecting cat figures and coins, and doing photography, gardening… there were more, but it is enough for now. I have no more time to do most of my hobbies, but I still consider them as a part of me. Nowadays, I consider programming as one of my biggest hobbies, also reading, and occasionally I enjoy creating some artwork like painting or drawing.
In the end, I would like to say that when a person’s work and hobby intersect, they are more likely to experience a sense of purpose and fulfillment. Love what you do, and do what you love!
