Meet the Team: Cenk Erdogan

What’s your earliest tech-related memory?

In high school, I remember creating code in HTML – I was fascinated with how the code created a specific result. Before then, I played digital games, but I don’t consider them as tech, and I wasn’t really interested in how games are made. The first time that I looked behind the scenes was the first HTML I created.

Describe your day-to-day routine, if you have one.

I wake up very early and go swimming! After that, it’s breakfast, and I’ll look over my daily plan to see what I’m going to do that day. I try to predict the biggest challenges right at the start of my work day, and make an effort to overcome those.

People who work with tech can be superstitious. Do you have a favourite computer superstition or ritual that probably doesn’t work – but you still do it anyway?

My superstition is that when I wake up, I have a plan in my mind, and if I don’t do the plan in my mind in order, I am convinced that my day will be ruined, so I try to stick to that plan without any deviations.

Who is your professional hero?

My first manager – back in 2011, my manager was a technical architect, and he inspired me a lot. In this industry you make a lot of mistakes, but he showed me how I could fix those mistakes and through this broadened my mind.

How did you end up working at Cleverbit?

I used to work in Poland, and at the time I had ten years of experience. I was approached by a recruiter with an opportunity in Malta; I looked into it, and into Cleverbit. It had been some time since I’d worked in a software house, so I was really excited to take the opportunity!

Is there a project that you’ve worked on at Cleverbit that really stood out to you for whatever reason?

I’ve learned a lot in the project I’m working on right now. Despite, or perhaps because of the recurring tasks I find myself doing at this point in my career, I’m learning a lot of new things.

What’s the office culture like at Cleverbit?

I started working here at the beginning of the pandemic, so we were working remotely, but every so often we met up at small organised events. I really missed the closeness of the company, and Cleverbit is so friendly, they’re really helpful, and it’s a great environment.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

I was considering being a dentist; I don’t regret not following that path now, but that was my initial career choice.