Amir Yamin

Today marks the 10-year anniversary of my software development career and I couldn’t be more content with what I do. The journey has been full of learning, with new experiences. My concepts behind computer science have never been a challenge despite having no exposure to the field initially as I had different ideas about where I wanted to go.

This was one of the reasons why I pursued a career in this field as I felt it was made for me and I was destined to kick off my career and celebrate a decade in it. Throughout my degree of BSCS, I always stayed in the top two spots, leading to an even bigger surprise. Along with being in the top two students of my class, I was surprised to learn that I stood 2nd in the university across all campuses.

During my young years, I had a lot of interest in art, mainly sketching and decent skills. However, that was short-lived as it was not welcomed by my family. After that, I tried to manage my family’s agricultural land. Not finding it fit for me, I started focusing more on my education to build my career doing something I could enjoy.

After graduating from the Islamia University of Bahawalpur, I went to a job fair at Fast University with my friends. Despite having low hopes as the job fair was for their students, I didn’t hesitate to visit various booths there. At one booth, I had a very productive conversation with a senior developer and towards the end, I was asked to give my CV. I got a call from Tkxel the next day for an interview, and I landed my first job!

After spending 3 years at Tkxel, I switched somewhere new to work on my growth. I accepted a position at Kwanso and spent 3 years before remaining as a consultant for 2 more years as I had to go back home to assist my family with the land. After spending 5 months there, I realized I wanted to go back into software development. I started looking for a job and was introduced to Emerald Labs by a friend where I gave an interview. A few minutes in, the CTO being impressed with my skills asked me to join as soon as I could. What drew me to EL was their management team who gave us so much relief while working, especially during COVID. When I joined the company as a ROR developer, I never imagined leading a development team. Today, I am working as the Head of the Engineering Team and I am grateful for the trust and recognition I received along my journey at EL.

Building yourself isn’t easy. You face many hurdles and get confused about the next steps. It was the same for me too and due to the nature of my job, I couldn’t spend enough time with my family which left a big impact on me. During those trying times, I thought a lot about life and feared not getting where I belong. I learned that by remaining true to who you are and finding passion in your work, you overcome all obstacles. After all, even in the darkest of the night skies, you can still see a bright star.