Embracing a fresh start

Desiree Gases

Born in the Swabian Alps in Germany, Justus Voigt loves mountains. He grew up in Stuttgart in south-western Germany. He made his way to Namibia when he was 18. Voigt matriculated at the German High school (DHPS) and went to Stellenbosch for his studies. After graduating in politics, philosophy and economics, he realised that he actually really likes computers and started a coding bootcamp in Cape Town which has led him to his path as a software developer.

Voigt has been a software developer at InTouch for about three months.

“My job title is software developer, and as the title suggests I do software development which can mean many different things like working on a payment system that allows us to receive credit card payments or configuring servers on the cloud,” says Voigt.

Often Voigt also finds himself doing project management work like planning the next few weeks of work for a big tech project. The most exciting part about Voigt’s new position is that he has been delegated more responsibility that he really started to enjoy because it gives him freedom to shape his environment on the principles he believes in.

Careers asked Voigt about some of the challenges he faces being in this position. “I think for a software developer it is always hard to learn new technologies but it is an absolute necessity because our industry is the fastest moving hands down. The way to go about this is important here. It is not about learning all the latest tech but to know where our industry is heading and to learn the tech that enables this.”

When asked what advice he would give to aspiring software developers, Voigt said “Getting into software development is not easy but you need to be driven. And no, you do not need a degree in computer science to be a good software developer. In fact, I believe the best programmers are the self-taught ones.”