Filip Synek
Software Engineer
Products
From Kentico Academy to Xperience Cloud: Filip's Journey of Growth
The best way to grow is by doing. That’s why a few years ago, we launched Kentico Academy, a program where students worked on a real project, guided by mentors from Kentico. Filip is one of our success stories. From his first project, delivering first mass actions to Content Hub during the Academy to driving functionality in Xperience Cloud today, his journey shows how curiosity can spark rapid growth. Read on to discover his story, from Academy newcomer to Cloud developer, and the projects that shaped his growth.
Discovering the Tech Path.
What first drew you to the world of IT? Was there a moment you knew this was the right path for you?
It wasn’t one defining moment, but a natural progression, from early fascination with computers in elementary school, to formal education at technical high school specializing in information technology.
How did you first hear about Kentico? Was your impression tied to the Kentico Academy?
I first heard about Kentico during a high school field trip. We visited local tech companies in Brno, and Kentico made an early impression. Later at university, I kept checking the job market to see who was hiring, what tech stacks were in use, and what salaries to expect. I noticed Kentico was hiring junior and intern developers, but I passed on the opportunity at first because I was too busy with school.
The Kentico Academy Experience.
Can you describe what the Academy was like and why you joined?
The Academy was a structured initiative where a group of 3–4 students first got on the same skill baseline and then worked on a real project. As part of our university program, we were required to complete 160 hours of work in a real IT company to gain credits and practical experience. The Academy was a perfect opportunity for that. I wanted to get my “foot in the door” and see how things really work beyond school projects. It also appealed to me because it offered student-friendly employment. Part-time positions for juniors were hard to find in the job market. Plus, Kentico had great online references and was known as an employee-focused company.
What did your experience in the Academy look like?
I came in with just basic programming and web development skills, mainly the fundamentals of OOP, some C#, and a bit of JavaScript. The onboarding process helped us get to a common understanding. We started with introductory tasks and bug fixes to learn how the Xperience by Kentico solution was structured. Then we moved to a real project.
Can you tell us more about the project itself?
Our Academy group delivered the first mass actions (specifically “Delete” and “Publish” operations) into the Xperience Content Hub. It showed me how a business opportunity like this is prepared - from stakeholder discussions to alignment with architects and PMs, and finally building production-grade code. Even just a few months in the Academy gave me enough practice to confidently call myself a developer, not just someone who occasionally writes code that might work.
How did it feel to work on a product like Xperience by Kentico?
I was amazed at how much can be achieved with code when I started working on Xperience by Kentico. Compared to school projects, the scale and complexity are on another level. Here, you work on something real. You often touch code from other teams and have to align with them. Working on the Cloud platform feels a bit simpler since our team has its own separate codebase. But it still shows the difference between personal projects and production-grade solutions
Was there a specific moment when you realized that shift? When you thought, “Wow, I am really a developer?”
There wasn’t just one moment, there were many. At first, everything was new and I felt like an imposter. But I learned to ask questions and rely on the senior developers who guided me. I realized everyone starts like that, and it’s completely normal.
Academy included mentors who guided you through this journey. How did they support your learning?
Each Academy run had a senior developer assigned to the team. They were there to answer even the “stupid” questions. They guided our coding approach and walked us through engineering processes.
Growing into the role.
So, when did you officially join Kentico as an employee?
First, I spent about two months sharpening my skills through Academy onboarding. Then we worked on mass actions for six months. Once that was delivered, we successfully finished the Academy project and got an offer to join Kentico as full-time employees.
What helped you grow from junior to medior developer?
My Engineering Manager laid out a roadmap, a personalized development plan. We defined what needed to improve and highlighted my strengths. I learned not to be afraid of challenging myself with harder tasks, you’ll grow into them.
What has been the biggest learning moment so far?
Finalizing the Mass Publish opportunity. It taught me a lot about working under time pressure and coordinating with other teams. We missed one release because we were overly optimistic. I learned to never estimate based on the best-case scenario and always leave buffer time.
Xperience Cloud Team.
Tell us more about the team you are currently in. What are you working on and what does your typical workday look like?
The Cloud team ensures the product runs smoothly for clients. I usually start between 7:30 and 8:30. I do the most intense work in the morning, then we have our daily stand-up and lunch. Afternoons are for simpler tasks or code reviews. On average, during my work week, I spend 40-60% of my time implementing new features, 20% on fixing bugs and technical debt, and 20% on innovation and learning time.
What are you working on currently?
We recently launched Database Restore Points, the first major functionality I drove. Beyond that, I’m using my innovation time to prototype support for customers deploying their applications as Docker images into Linux-based environments. While it’s still early, it could bring larger improvements, including potential cost reductions.
What do you enjoy most about your team?
Definitely the people. We have a fun, relaxed atmosphere. Most of my teammates have extensive experience and therefore we’re always able to get help or just a second opinion. Another factor is, that our team is composed of T-shaped developers. Everyone has their own area of expertise, but can also contribute across the workload.
Final thoughts.
What advice would you give to students or junior developers?
Start early. Build school projects, polish them, put them on GitHub, write a good README, maybe even deploy. Learn to highlight your achievements. Don’t underestimate yourself.
Soft skills are just as important as technical ones. Communicate. Ask questions. Don’t be just a programmer; be an interesting person that people enjoy working with. A lot of companies don’t choose you based only on your technical skills, they also look at how well you fit their culture.
What would you say to someone thinking about joining Kentico?
Don’t overthink it and just go for it. You’ll work with a lot of cool people.
Author.
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