He has been with HTEC Group since its humble beginnings. He was one of the first twenty people to join our Belgrade team 8 years ago, where he has stayed ever since, growing together with the company. The life of every HTEC party and event, the friend and mentor in need to every colleague in his team – meet Dragomir Krstic, one of our outstanding Java Engineers and probably one of our friendliest and most cheerful team members.
Dragomir was a big fan of sports from an early age, always active and eager to push his limits when it came to physical resilience and strength. He always believed he would end up in social sciences, and it was only by the end of his high school education that he decided to give computer science a chance. His first serious experience with engineering started at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Belgrade. Still, he realized the complexity and the bigger picture computer science brings only when he started his first job. However, today, Dragomir is sure that he could not have done it without his academic studies, which gave him excellent fundamental knowledge and helped him develop his engineering mindset.
Dragomir looks back at his first job as one of the important milestones in his personal and professional growth but admits that starting his work at HTEC, almost 8 years ago, was an even more important leap towards success. “It was only then that I realized that freedom and a healthy environment are important factors in one’s career.”
When he started working at HTEC, there were only 20 people working for the company – engineers and other non-technical staff.
“Today, there are over 700 people in several cities across the world, and the company is still growing, and I am growing with it, so that leap is still on.”
Dragomir emphasizes that HTEC is an excellent place for growth and professional development, but what sets it apart from other companies in the industry is probably the diversity of projects, the company stability, and an excellent working environment.
Although the times have changed, and working from home has become normal, doing it with two very small kids is quite challenging. However, Dragomir loves it. “I get to eat breakfast and spend some time in the morning with my family, and only then start the working day from my living room. Around 11 AM, I have my daily meeting with the team and then continue working on my everyday tasks and stories with our client’s engineers to find the best possible approach to the problems. I sometimes have one or two more meetings during the day or additional 1-1 meetings if I or someone else needs some help.”
He says that the most exciting project he has worked on in HTEC has to be the current one. “I’m working on the part of the system that is integrating our system with multiple external providers, receiving real-time updates from those 3rd parties and providing joined data.”
We asked Dragomir what his go-to resources for gaining new knowledge are, and he admitted that he loves reading tech and other types of blogs on Medium and similar sites. In the age where conferences have become an exclusively online thing, he says he loves to go through YouTube conference videos. “The last online conference that I have listened to was Devoxx Ukraine 2020.”
Once his workday is done, Dragomir loves to switch off and spend quality time with his family, and every once in a while, he enjoys going to the gym. “My kids have taught me that I shouldn’t take everything so seriously. Instead, I should take time to have fun and enjoy my time with them. Kids are the best teachers – they just know.”
Before Covid, together with his wife Jelena, Dragomir has tried every extreme sport you can name. They have participated in numerous extreme sports competitions and embarked on many exotic adventures across the globe. Now, they lead an even more adventurous lifestyle, trying to tackle all of their previous ambitions with a baby and a toddler during the pandemic. His wife, Jelena, has also been working at HTEC for years. She is a part of our amazing Experience Team and is the optimistic force that motivates not only Dragomir but everyone else in the company with whom she crosses paths.
Dragomir believes that everyone should have a philosophy to go by in life, “Philosophy is good and can be helpful, but don’t spend so much time on it.” He believes that if you see an opportunity, you should definitely seize it. HTEC has given him lots of opportunities over the years, and the only advice he has for people considering a career in HTEC is to go for it.
“We have excellent people and strong teams, great knowledge in many areas of software development (from planning to execution, implementation, and production support). The best and stable working environment.”
