Sandu Rajapakse
When hiring, we look at resumes but often our final judgements are filtered through shared attitudes and values. This often produces a homogenous team which can be detrimental to a team’s effectiveness. I remember when interviewing Sandu that he had a very subdued personality. I had previously looked for employees who were more forward and outspoken as I encourage participation and good communication. There was something about Sandu that I ignored those rigid criteria and hired him. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Sandu showed himself to be one of the most dedicated and diligent employees I’ve ever worked with. He asked if it was OK if he could arrive at work exceptionally early (I think it was something like 6AM or 6:30) and leave early to beat traffic in both directions. He would be in the office before everyone else and often stay later than he really needed to in order to solve a particular problem he was working on. Sandu was extremely thoughtful about a new feature or refactoring. He would take the time to carefully consider a change and discuss it with the team before implementation. It really helps to facilitate communication and confidence in code.
Sandu quickly became one of the most revered employees in the office. Co-workers outside of the development group would tell me just how much they enjoyed working with Sandu. He always wants to make sure that he’s helping individuals whenever he can, relating either to the product or general needs around the office. Many people confuse software development with general IT. Sandu would happily help colleagues out with their computer issues even if it wasn’t related to our internal product.
I was delighted to find out when we recently caught up that Sandu is now heading the product team. I’m sure the new team members will benefit from his considered approach to software development and his overall attitude towards breaking out of your role to help other teams. I was reminded with Sandu to not rely on impressions when hiring but delve into values. Hopefully we’ll get to work on another project together in the future.
LinkedIn: /sandu-rajapakse
Twitter: @SanduRajapakse
