CIQ Employee Spotlight: Matt Hink

This week, we’d like to introduce you to Matt Hink, another integral member of the CIQ team! Keep reading to find out which personal computers first sparked his interest, all of his varied career roles, and what he appreciates the most about his current position.

What attracted you to a career in software engineering?

I’ve been interested in computers since I was young and then got hooked on programming. I first got access to a Commodore PET in summer school, and later another school had a few Apple IIs. I also tried TI99/4a and TRS-80.

What drew you to CIQ?

I worked with John Frey, CTO at CIQ, 17 years ago at a different company. He had a great pitch!

What do you think sets CIQ apart from other companies?

There are always so many irons in the fire – everything from OS to imaging to federated cloud. The main thing that sets CIQ apart is the people. The engineering team is a strong group, and everyone is collaborative and very helpful!

What's your role in the company, and what do you enjoy most about it?

My current role as a principal software engineer is in long-term support (LTS), with a focus on patching CVEs. Of course, this helps to bring in revenue for the company and that is important for any startup. It is also a new challenge for me, since it’s a completely different skill set from what I have done in the past. My previous roles have been in Control Systems, Compiler/Interpreter, Clustering, Database Engine (relational/storage), Provisioning, Protocols, Peripherals, Hardware/Firmware, and Cloud. There are many things to do here, which is really cool!

Describe a typical day at CIQ as a principal software engineer

I front load to work hard during the weekdays and keep going when things are going well. When things could be going better, I pause and consider a better direction.

What advice would you give to someone considering a career in software engineering, especially at CIQ?

Realize that the job will always change. You'll always get to learn. There will always be new areas to explore. Software engineering is a very broad field, but the talent pool is relatively small. Keep in mind that you may work with the same people many years in the future even at different companies.

Do you have any fun or memorable anecdotes from your time at CIQ that you'd like to share?

The in-person get-togethers are great! They help to get to know people in a remote work environment.

If you weren't a software engineer, what profession do you think you'd be in?

I’d manage a large fish room at a pet store. I actually did this job, way back in the day.