“Embracing a Growth Mindset and Teamwork: Meet Scrum Master Jelmar Van Aert! After completing his training journey at dotNET Lab, Scrum Master Jelmar Van Aert joined the team with a growth mindset, strong teamwork skills, and a lot of enthusiasm! Following his training at dotNET Lab, Jelmar embarked on his journey as a developer at the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO). Transitioning to the role of a Scrum Master was quite challenging but proved to be a tremendous boost for the team. Read his inspiring story!”
After completing his studies in IT Management and a degree in Programming, Jelmar embarked on his first job at a software company in Antwerp. The need to acquire new skills was incredibly high!
On my previous job, we mostly worked with outdated technologies, which left me wanting more. It was clear that a change of plans was necessary! Through a recruitment agency, I came across dotNET lab. After a introductory conversation with Daan and Bjorn, I immediately knew that I was in the right place. Flexible learning modules that prepare me for exciting projects? Bring it on!
During the full-time 3-month training program, Jelmar immersed himself in a wide range of programming languages and frameworks. JavaScript, HTML, CSS, … For that, he logged in daily to the interactive learning platform of our training division dotNET Academy, which offered various modules, theory, and exercises.
``dotNET Academy seamlessly integrates theory and practice. A hands-on learning approach that's easy to follow from home! Setting up projects and web applications from scratch: after 3 months, I had a solid grasp of new frameworks like Angular.``
Strong skills are quickly picked up at dotNET lab. After his training, Jelmar started working as a developer at the Fund for Scientific Research (FWO) in 2019.
``At FWO, I was able to immediately apply my knowledge in practice. Initially, I worked mostly individually because in our 7-person team, everyone was working on their own tasks. I wanted to change that! When we were tasked with replacing the FWO's e-portal with 3 colleagues, we realized the benefits of working more collaboratively. This led to the idea of transitioning to a scrum team.``
“Working with Scrum requires strong guidance. When I was appointed as a Scrum Master, I was excited about the opportunity. However, it also meant that I had to dive back into the books and modules to refresh my knowledge.”
``Scrum is a completely new way of working at FWO. So, acquiring additional knowledge was a must! I delved into the Scrum framework and immediately implemented the learnings in the workplace. Managing schedules, facilitating meetings, supporting developers, ... It's a versatile role with quite a bit of responsibility, as a Scrum Master is the direct point of contact for the team.``
Since the transition to Scrum, the team has grown significantly. Today, a total of 14 FWO developers are working together to tackle challenging IT issues. Jelmar keeps a close watch on the progress.
``Keeping everyone focused, preventing us from going off-track... Occasionally stressful, but mostly challenging and educational! Communication is key in this regard, especially now that we are all working from our home offices. Every morning, we have a short 15-minute 'daily standup meeting' that I diligently time-keep. Who is working on what? What are the obstacles? By tuning in for a brief update, everyone stays informed and we stay on course. It's definitely an interesting job!``