“Success requires persistence and team work”
Favágó has been working for Nav N Go since September 2006. He started as a junior programmer and today is one of the people responsible for the major developments of Nav N Go. He believes working hard is worthwhile as the developments of Nav N Go are amongst the world’s cutting-edge solutions.
How did you become part of Nav N go?
A friend of mine showed me the ads on the company website. I thought I might just qualify to be a programmer, so I applied. A week later I was called for a personal interview.
What was your first impression at the meeting?
Goro and Tücsi, two of the main developers, sat down with me for an unusually relaxed talk, which was unlike anything I had experienced before. The whole thing was very easy-going and I immediately came to like it. I became even more enthusiastic when they told me about the way things were going at Nav N Go, the abundance of prize-winning game software from PDAmill, the company’s developer and of course the successes of iGO My way. Then again, they liked my reference works, so we agreed and I was hired.
Was it important to you to become part of a company whose products are a success?
Very much so. I previously worked for a company that was essentially a hobby-enterprise, backed by a rich investor from abroad. It was a very disillusioning experience to work, knowing that our products would never be sold. With Nav N Go however, not only is my work much appreciated, but it feels good to know that we create navigational software that is used and loved by a lot of people, and that, in my opinion, will be the best software in the whole world.
You worked for a game developing company before, so you were familiar with these files already, but Nav N Go was the first place where you came across navigation...
Yes, this was indeed a completely new area for me, just as it was for many other programming colleagues of mine. And this is what is so exciting about it, especially as we can see how much this field is developing and how much demand there is for professional software solutions. I am currently working on the latest developments, 3D visualisation, which will be the major new feature of our product soon to be released, NavNGo iGO 8. It is an extremely exciting task, considering nobody has ever done this in the field of navigational software before.
How did you become a programmer?
As a kid I was a bit frustrated by the fact that everybody else had a Commodore 64 but me, so I could not play with them. Later this motivated me to write my own game programs. I came to like programming so much, that in secondary school I took computer technology courses and was writing game programs at home. Then I graduated from university as a computer programmer. I followed a course of 3D, geometry and game development throughout. The path that led me here was essentially straight with a few roundabouts, but the things I was interested in were exactly the same as the ones I can also utilise at NavNGo.
Does your current work satisfy your professional expectations?
Absolutely – this is all I ever wanted! Additionally, you always have the opportunity of advancing at Nav N Go. Initially I was given junior programmer tasks, but gradually I took over other functions as well, and today, as a senior programmer, I am part of the software design team and have the chance to be in contact with the customers. This makes my work more varied than it would be, if I were purely programming.
Was it easy for you to find your feet in this new environment?
Yes, I immediately felt like I was part of a team. Strangely enough, being in the same room with a lot of other programmers made communication easy, as it helped to speed up the process of getting used to each other. In my opinion, the major forte of the Nav N Go programming team and its managers is that we are able to work in a good atmosphere and without tension, even in the middle of the biggest rush when the deadline is really tight, which makes it much easier to concentrate on the job. I am surrounded by my friends the whole day.
What, in your opinion, makes a good programmer?
Talent in itself is not enough. You need some kind of persistence to resolve problems. In other words, you have to keep working on a problem long enough until you finally see the end of the tunnel. You can, of course, ask for help and work together with others, but it is always finding solutions and diligence that matters the most.
A friend of mine showed me the ads on the company website. I thought I might just qualify to be a programmer, so I applied. A week later I was called for a personal interview.
What was your first impression at the meeting?
Goro and Tücsi, two of the main developers, sat down with me for an unusually relaxed talk, which was unlike anything I had experienced before. The whole thing was very easy-going and I immediately came to like it. I became even more enthusiastic when they told me about the way things were going at Nav N Go, the abundance of prize-winning game software from PDAmill, the company’s developer and of course the successes of iGO My way. Then again, they liked my reference works, so we agreed and I was hired.
Was it important to you to become part of a company whose products are a success?
Very much so. I previously worked for a company that was essentially a hobby-enterprise, backed by a rich investor from abroad. It was a very disillusioning experience to work, knowing that our products would never be sold. With Nav N Go however, not only is my work much appreciated, but it feels good to know that we create navigational software that is used and loved by a lot of people, and that, in my opinion, will be the best software in the whole world.
You worked for a game developing company before, so you were familiar with these files already, but Nav N Go was the first place where you came across navigation...
Yes, this was indeed a completely new area for me, just as it was for many other programming colleagues of mine. And this is what is so exciting about it, especially as we can see how much this field is developing and how much demand there is for professional software solutions. I am currently working on the latest developments, 3D visualisation, which will be the major new feature of our product soon to be released, NavNGo iGO 8. It is an extremely exciting task, considering nobody has ever done this in the field of navigational software before.
How did you become a programmer?
As a kid I was a bit frustrated by the fact that everybody else had a Commodore 64 but me, so I could not play with them. Later this motivated me to write my own game programs. I came to like programming so much, that in secondary school I took computer technology courses and was writing game programs at home. Then I graduated from university as a computer programmer. I followed a course of 3D, geometry and game development throughout. The path that led me here was essentially straight with a few roundabouts, but the things I was interested in were exactly the same as the ones I can also utilise at NavNGo.
Does your current work satisfy your professional expectations?
Absolutely – this is all I ever wanted! Additionally, you always have the opportunity of advancing at Nav N Go. Initially I was given junior programmer tasks, but gradually I took over other functions as well, and today, as a senior programmer, I am part of the software design team and have the chance to be in contact with the customers. This makes my work more varied than it would be, if I were purely programming.
Was it easy for you to find your feet in this new environment?
Yes, I immediately felt like I was part of a team. Strangely enough, being in the same room with a lot of other programmers made communication easy, as it helped to speed up the process of getting used to each other. In my opinion, the major forte of the Nav N Go programming team and its managers is that we are able to work in a good atmosphere and without tension, even in the middle of the biggest rush when the deadline is really tight, which makes it much easier to concentrate on the job. I am surrounded by my friends the whole day.
What, in your opinion, makes a good programmer?
Talent in itself is not enough. You need some kind of persistence to resolve problems. In other words, you have to keep working on a problem long enough until you finally see the end of the tunnel. You can, of course, ask for help and work together with others, but it is always finding solutions and diligence that matters the most.
News
Nov 12, 2008 5:58 PM
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