Heidee Sia: Developing Websites Whilst Engaging ASW Philippines

Heidee is a jack of all trades – developer, techie, singer, events planner, fitness enthusiast, and more! We sat down with Heidee to talk about how her work and her involvement with ASW events have changed during the pandemic.

Hi, Heidee! Tell us about yourself.

I graduated from Quezon City University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology. I’m the eldest of three siblings and in our family, I’m considered as the breadwinner. I love going on adventures – traveling to different provinces in the Philippines and going on quick weekend getaways with friends and loved ones. I’m also a volunteer at the music ministry in my church.

I take care of plants – I’m a plant lover! I have a collection of different indoor and outdoor plants, and taking care of them has really helped reduce my stress during the pandemic. And when I have free time and want to keep busy, I like to do extra jobs fixing software issues of computers and mobile phones.

Have you always been a techie?

Yes, I would say so. I graduated from Quezon City Polytechnic University with a degree in Information Technology, and went on to become a web designer that worked on CMS-based websites with schools under the Department of Education. I also entered marketing, designing websites and collateral for clients. But creating websites under different languages has always been my passion, and worked towards that trajectory. So when I got hired by ASW in 2018, I was excited for the opportunity to further explore my career in web development.

Right, because we know you as a digital native. Can you tell us about your job?

I’m a front end developer for a marketing team in the waste management industry. I work with a diverse team to produce clean and efficient websites that provide a meaningful customer journey, and meet the company’s goals. I do layouts based on the specific requirements and ensure brand consistency throughout the design. More specifically, I work on some of the UI/UX wireframes and the coding.

Being a front end developer is tough, but it’s an enjoyable job dealing with all the considerations in implementing visuals and the interactivity of elements. You need to have a keen eye during the development phase and need to address all the issues on the layouts. Aside from that, I ensure the websites’ compatibility across browsers, devices, and orientations or media breakpoints.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I enjoy working in a team, resolving different issues we encounter and striving to find solutions together. I also do love seeing the progress of the projects I work on, from the wireframe down to the finale and seeing the overall look and feel and its functionality. For me, it’s really a one-of-a-kind feeling seeing these accomplishments!

How has the pandemic changed the demand for work for front end developers?

The COVID-19 pandemic has really changed the way the world works, and it does have a big impact on the demand for front end development work. Because people are forced to stay home and avoid conducting their businesses in person, business processes are moving from brick-and-mortar to online. And as interactions and business transactions have moved into this space, we have to provide a good user experience that provides convenience to our customers. And this is where coding and UI/UX wireframes come in, as they are the backbone of functionality and user experience. Our team is doing our very best to provide the best kind of services and support to our customers.

How do you see yourself in this team and in this industry five years from now?

Being part of my team is very exciting, and I’m looking forward to more years doing what I do. Each project, each task, and each team meeting is a learning experience. And the more I work with my team, the more I learn about how I can contribute more competently as a developer and how we, as a team, can make a difference to our customers, and the industry at large. I feel more confident in my line of work because of this, and I see myself excelling as a developer even more.

Heidee, how do you think your teammates would describe you?

I think they would say that I’m a very good friend aside from being a good team member. I’m punctual, a team player and motivated to get things done as efficiently as possible, but I think they would also say I’m a very talkative person! I would be the first person to say hi and talk to you about what happened during your weekend, and go with you to buy milk tea with. I’m very personable and people open up to me pretty fast because I like to listen to them.

So apart from being a developer, we also know you’re heavily involved in the events planning initiatives of ASW. How did you get involved in that?

HR needed a representative from different accounts to get varied perspectives on what kind of events or activities people enjoy. I volunteered to join this committee and have been enjoying doing behind the scenes work with colleagues from different teams.

What do you usually do within the committee?

Everyone’s assigned a different role in the committee. Since joining the group, my role has always been researching, gathering information on what it would take to make our activities and events successful. I ask staff what their expectations are, which themes would work, and basically get everyone excited and participate in our events.

And it shows how much you enjoy being part of the events committee!

I enjoy every stage of events planning. I enjoy brainstorming with people, exchanging brilliant ideas with each other, learning from those more experienced than me, and thinking of the fun stuff that will happen. Making future events happen is a thrilling experience, for sure.

Having talked to many ASW staff in the Philippines, why do you think holding ASW events is important for staff?

We work hard here at ASW, and I think it’s only appropriate for us to celebrate our successes and achievements through these events. Seeing our fellow officemates outside of the office, traveling with them, and spending time with them doing all these different activities – it’s one way we build our relationships with one another. So it’s fun seeing people engaged in our activities and having a blast at parties because this is also a reward that they deserve.