Seeking a new challenge abroad: from France to Estonia with Dynatrace

Pierre is a software developer working on the query engine of Grail in the Dynatrace Tallin Lab

What’s your name, and what do you do at Dynatrace?

I am Pierre Fouchet, a senior software engineer in the Tallinn lab, working on the query engine of Dynatrace® Grail.

What path has brought you to Dynatrace?

I think my path started with the Covid-19 lockdowns. At that time, I was living more reactively. I did not think much about changing anything but went along with the motions already in progress.

When the last lockdown was suppressed in France, and things started to become “normal” again, something wasn’t feeling right anymore. I knew that I needed a change.

Sometime later, I stopped working as a contractor and took some weeks of actual holidays. I finally had the time to assess what I wanted to do and unearth old dreams of working abroad.

My past career was mainly about working in IT consultancy firms or as a contractor using Java technology. I enjoyed my time discovering the different domains (electricity, B2B marketplace), but I needed a more technical challenge. I also wanted to work in an English-friendly environment.

Dynatrace, with its Tallinn lab, was a perfect fit.

Why did you decide not to work remotely?

I have worked remotely for the past few years, and right now, I believe I need more office time. I missed all the social interactions that naturally happen in the office.

I can say I am glad about how things are working out here!

Programmers’ game day, all-lab gatherings, sports gatherings… There are many opportunities to spend time with colleagues doing other things besides work.

How did Dynatrace support you in your move to another country?

Dynatrace rented me a flat for the first month and gave me a bonus to cover relocation expenses. Besides materialistic help, I also received support from our operation specialist here in Tallinn. She helped me with all my questions regarding residency permits and other legal matters.

Did you experience any culture shock?

I arrived at the end of May when the days started to be very long. That was shocking to have sunlight at 4 or 5 in the morning!

But I would have to say it was more of a geographical shock.

How do you structure the work in your team?

We work in 2-weeks sprints with daily standup, grooming, and review meetings. People are pretty autonomous and choose what to work on.

What are you currently working on?

I am working on the query engine of Dynatrace, improving fairness among users’ queries.

What do you like about working at Dynatrace?

There are strong expectations regarding work, but it is not at the cost of personal life.

To reuse one of the core values of Dynatrace in a slightly different context, the leadership “walks the talk” about work-life balance. Wellness days and free therapy struck me on that matter. Caring is not a figure of speech or a branding thing here. Of course, all those benefits aim to improve employees’ productivity, but that’s still a big win for everyone.

My colleagues are also excellent engineers, which is challenging and, at the same time, a great opportunity for me to grow.

Finally, I like the technicality of the product. Threads, synchronization, and race conditions are never far!

What was your most significant achievement at Dynatrace?

So far, I would say delivering the first feature that improves user query fairness. Being able to contribute to such an essential element of Dynatrace is satisfying.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I love climbing and, more precisely, bouldering. I am on a journey to try as many climbing gyms as possible, to discover new and fun problems. So far, I have tried out 19 places in Europe.

When not on a wall, I also enjoy swimming and eating all kinds of desserts.

Seeking a new challenge abroad: from France to Estonia with Dynatrace was originally published in Dynatrace Engineering on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.