Jessen Rusiandi: Working at IOTA Feels Like Hanging Out with Friends

In our first piece of IOTA Kreatif Media’s blog, we want to celebrate our latest member who has just passed his probation period. Introducing our own game programmer, Jessen Rusiandi!

As a fresh graduate, acclimatising for your first job is a challenging task. You’re full of eagerness, yet you only have ice-thin experience. When you landed your first job, it will be as challenging for the freshmen and for the company, as both parties need to learn and teach to fill in the gap.

That was also felt by Jessen Rusiandi when he was landing his first job. Jessen graduated from Binus University and majored in Game Application and Technology.

He told us how he stumbled upon IOTA Kreatif Media, “It was from LinkedIn when I was looking for a job opening. I registered for an opening, but there was no answer. And then I saw one from IOTA, so ‘Okay, I’ll give it a try.’

When I saw that it has a hybrid (workspace), I thought ‘well, not bad.’ You know, considering the situation nowadays. If you found a hybrid or work-from-home workplace, of course, it would be more interesting. I tried to apply, it was approved, then the interview and stuff, then I passed and started to work.”

Jessen started working at the company on 12 July 2022, and passed his probation period three months later, on 12 October 2022. In his first three months with his colleague in IOTA, he’s already feeling right at home (well, literally and figuratively because we work remotely and meet once a fortnight).

Asked about his first impression of IOTA, he said, “It’s exciting, the people are cool, and I enjoy talking with them. It feels more like a close-knit group, friends hanging out and stuff, but actually, you’re working.”

We don’t know about you, but Jessen said that the people at IOTA look younger than their age.

“To be honest, my first impression was this is a group of young people. At first, I thought they were in their 20s. But it turns out that some are already married, have kids, and everything,” he added.

And that comes from our youngest employee. Surely, some of us will look in the mirror after reading this and smile. We are flattered indeed.

Apart from his duties as a game programmer, Jessen has another important task. He’s the note keeper of IOTA’s daily morning meeting. His task is to keep track of the people who are late. But how did that come to be?

“So, at the beginning (of my employment), I wanted to repair my sleep schedule. Before, I was a college student who liked to hang out until the morning and sleep at dawn. Then I got a job, so I tried to rectify it. Sleep at 11 PM and wake up at 7 AM.”

“So because of that, I usually am the one who joined the meeting first. I usually already in at 7:50, and then Mr Eka (our CEO) follows. It continued for one or two weeks, so yeah, when we made the rule (to give penalties to the ones who are late) I was given the task as the note keeper,” he said about the origin story of the Note Keeper.

Passing a probation period in a new job is a big relief for anybody. It means you’re in for the long run, and both you and the company feel comfortable and satisfied with each other. The first months are also crucial for employee onboarding. Jessen feels that he learned the ropes pretty well, with some credit going to his supervisor.

“(I learned) quite a lot. I’ve learned some techniques and skills. I asked Ko Theo (our lead programmer) frequently. There are better and easier ways of doing things. Also about coordination. When I was an intern, it was different.”

“The coordination feels more on point this time. The feeling of working together with different disciplines like animations, UI/UX, etc. hits differently compared to when I was an intern, where everybody was a programmer. Now, in my first job, I know how to communicate with animators, UI designers, and game designers. Yeah, there are lots of things that I have learned,” he said.

As we all do, Jessen hopes that IOTA could grow forward and be more successful. As for himself, as a game developer, he has set his sights on something great in the future.

“Yes, plans. For the company, I’m flexible to follow the company’s plan. But as for my own dream, I wanted to make a big RPG game just like in my imagination. But now I’m still a newbie, so maybe someday. If it’s with IOTA, then I’d be great!”

Well, we hope you can fulfil your dream with us, Jessen!

Do you have any dream project you want to build? Contact us and build it with our team!