Meet Ben, our extremely cool new developer. Based in Softlink IC’s Australian office, he is an entertaining livewire who undersells his increasing contribution to the Development team. We get to know a little bit more about Ben in the latest of our Softlink Information Centres Employee Spotlight series.

What did you do before working for Softlink IC? Did you decide on a career change?

Before I started working for Softlink IC, I was actually a pharmacist (unbelievable, I know), and after I worked as one for a number of years (in both community and hospital, urban and rural), I decided to close the book on what was my pharmacy career and open a new one in programming/IT.

What are the main responsibilities of your position?

As a new developer, my main responsibility is to learn how to be groovy and be the heart of the party. I think I also read somewhere that I need to fix bugs and implement features, but I’m not too sure.

What do you like most about working at Softlink IC?

The freedom and support I am given by the dev team so far anyway (you never know when their eyes will start glowing red as they stare me down). They always lend a helping hand when I feel like a sack of potatoes and call for help. But let’s be honest, what we all like the most are the team lunches. If I could suggest that perhaps there could be a few more team lunches?

Favorite food? If there is a list of them so much the better!

I have a quick disclaimer and it’s that I absolutely love food (eating it, that is) Cooking is not my forté – best I can manage is frying an egg and making instant noodles. Food not only fills your stomach, but also your heart, soul and other cool poetic words that refer to the body. I don’t want to turn this Employee Spotlight into a Food Spotlight, so I’ll only mention a few of my favourite foods here:

• Savory: Paella, Chili Con Carne, Pesto Pasta, Tom Yum Fried Rice, Laksa, Nasi Goreng, Pho… (the list is endless)
• Sweets: Waffles, Pancakes, Chocolate-filled Donuts, Poffertjes, Palacinke, Dango, Golden Mantou… (again, the list is endless)

Which 4 people, alive or dead, would you love to share your favorite food with and why?

• Freddie Mercury: His energy on the stage is simply awe-inspiring and I think being able to meet and share food with such an individual would be an experience.
• Robin Williams: I would love to hear the stories he has to share.
• Fred Rogers/Mister Rogers: Mister Rogers will probably console me on my life’s grievances as I scarf down food and bawl my eyes out at the same time (love this man’s attitude).
• Bob Ross: This man’s positivity will rub off on the food and I will definitely become a better individual after eating with him (honestly bless his positivity).

If you could be anyone else for a day, who would that be and why?

If I could be anyone else for a day, I’d choose myself (tell Narcissus there’s a new cowboy in town). I’m just too cool.

When travel is again possible where in the world would you like to visit and why?

While I have a long list of places I’d love to visit, if I had to pick one, I’d say South Korea. There are many eateries and mountains there. As someone who likes mountain climbing and hiking, and did I mention food, it’d be a fabulous place to visit.

We are all looking forward to Ben’s work in future releases. Will they be the coolest? Will his skills in making up prescriptions result in stress relieving features? We are all on the edge of or seats in anticipation!