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Job title: Java Designer
Group: Solutions Delivery

Me

When I was 7-years old, I knew for sure that I wanted to work with computers, just as my Dad did. Four-years later, I started programming my own games on our first computer our Dad gave us for Christmas. Today, I'm 33-years old, and I've been with CN since graduating from Sherbrooke University in 1996. When I first arrived, the only words I knew in English were ‘yes, no' and a few questions. Joining a large company like CN at a time when the Internet and eBusiness were becoming more mainstream was good timing for me to learn English and evolve in an exciting environment. Over the years, I moved from a system administrator to a Java developer, into my current role as Java system designer. Along the way, I learned a lot about our business and challenges.

My role

As a Java designer, I help choose the best designs for CN's Java Systems being developed. This encompasses many projects including eBusiness and intranet. Most of the teams I work with are about 10-15 people such as developers, designers, system administrators, project leaders, and testers. I'm responsible to make sure we follow standards and processes in alignment with the project plan we establish. Since the computing world constantly evolves, most of the challenges I face are technical.

My team

The atmosphere at CN is awesome. I work with a dynamic and multicultural group of about 30 Java developers and designers who each own their own project. It's the best environment to discuss and learn a lot about technical issues. I enjoy spending time with my coworkers, even after the work day is done. I even went salmon fishing with one of my colleagues in Gaspésie recently.

Work/Life balance

In 2003, I took on one of the biggest challenges of my life: I decided to build my own house. I am also passionate about taking all my vacation time during summer and going on long trips. I have young son who is one-and-a-half years old, and sometimes I have to pick him up at the daycare before 5 p.m. Working at CN provides me with the flexibility to balance my personal and professional life.

Challenges

Learning English was a big challenge for me. My last project was also a very challenging: I had to build a system to support nearly two million of train and equipment events each day. As team leader, I was responsible to ensure that all design, development and security standards were followed in addition to performing quality assurance testing. My experience with Java projects also allowed me to do complete some technical support with our developers and designers.

Making a difference

Since arriving at CN, I worked hard to establish standards, common practices, and most importantly Java code reuse. After a few years here, I was involved in designing and developing our Java framework. Ten-years later, our eBusiness applications still use this framework. In 2005-2006, I participated in designing a new framework, using the latest Java technologies and design patterns. This provides the foundation for many of our business critical systems.