This month, let's meet Gabriel, our talented Product Market Research Analyst, who made the leap from intern to full-time XWikier in no time. When he's not mastering competitor analysis and market research, you'll find Gabriel deep into NixOS or exploring Kendrick Lamar's latest beats. Ștefana, his manager, had some words to share about him. Keep reading!
Gabriel is a smart, witty, and thorough Product Researcher who brings great insight and attention to detail to his work. He is very curious and has a genuine drive for continuous improvement in multiple areas such as research, web and marketing. His passion for open-source software and its philosophy aligns perfectly with our values, and his contributions reflect that commitment. I’m very happy he is part of our team, and I look forward to seeing his impact grow even further.
Without further ado, let's dive into Gabriel's journey to and inside XWiki!
- Favorite artist: Changes frequently, but lately it's been Kendrick Lamar
- Best book ever read: "The Fifth Science" by Exurb1a
- Dream destination: I'd like to visit Spain at some point
- Quote you live by: "No man steps into the same river twice, for it is not the same river, and he is not the same man."
- At the office or remote? Both. I really enjoy spending time at the office with my colleagues, but sometimes it's just easier to work from home.
Tell us about yourself briefly
Hellooo! 👋👋
I'm Gabriel, working as a Research Analyst at XWiki while also finishing my university studies in marketing. I've been at the company, blessing my amazing colleagues with my presence, for almost a year now. If everything goes according to plan, I'll probably be around here until I retire 🤞.
In my free time, I like to do all sorts of stuff related to computers, and technology in a broader sense. I like making websites from time to time, customizing my NixOS system, trying to break random software, or just simply playing video games.
I also like researching (I know, I know, who would have though) whatever happens to catch my curiosity. Going down weird rabbit holes kind of became a habit at this point.
Besides technology, I'm quite interested in economics and politics. I like to stay informed in these areas as well. I'm like a sponge for this kind of information.
Usually during summer I try to write on my blog, about random stuff I find interesting. Hopefully once my university studies are over I'll get to do that more often.
🌄 The internship experience
How did you find out about XWiki, and what made you choose it for an internship?
It was around mid-March 2024. Juggling university stuff with my previous job proved to be extremely stressful. I was burnt out. I quit.
The first day of April marked my first day of freedom. I went to my classes, all was good. It felt like the day suddenly became bigger. Honestly, I was starting to get a little bored.
Around that time, I was reminded by a classmate that we needed to look for an internship related to what we were studying. In my case – marketing.
I started to look around, but I couldn't really find anything that piqued my interest.
Our university had some kind of half-baked job board which was hard to find and even harder to use, but I decided to look through it anyway.
There I stumbled upon an "Account Manager" job listing, posted by XWiki. At the time I had no idea what an account manager was. I thought it was loosely related to accounting and due to my previous experience in audit I decided to open the listing. Just out of curiosity.
I skimmed through the company description. "Oh they're doing open source? That's nice. Wait. CryptPad? I think I've heard of it before". That was the hook for me. I wanted to know more.
I went to the XWiki website and I saw that they were also looking for a marketing manager. Now, I was nowhere near qualified enough to apply to that position, but I thought to myself "If they're hiring marketing people as well, maybe I could try to get an internship here?"
And apparently, I was right! I emailed the first address I could find on the website. Within 30 minutes some of my now colleagues were already stalking my LinkedIn profile. An online interview was set later that week. Then an in-person one the following week, where I got to meet Ludovic, the CEO of XWiki.
April 22nd 2024 was my first day of working at XWiki.
It may seem like my "freedom" only lasted about 3 weeks, however this cannot be further from the truth. I still feel free.
What was your internship experience like?
The internship was an amazing experience. It was a great opportunity for me to grow into an area I didn't expect to like as much as I do now.
I've always enjoyed browsing the internet in search of information, but I thought that doing it as a job would suck all the fun out of it. Thankfully that didn't happen, and I still enjoy doing what I used to (and still) do in my free time, but now for XWiki.
During the internship I also learned a loooot about how things work in the real world, about how software is made, about the actual principles of open-source software. A lot of fun stuff. I've absorbed everything now!
What did you find to be the most interesting and challenging task?
The most interesting and challenging task was definitely the competitor analysis, which I did relatively early during my internship.
I started by doing some basic research around what would be the main competitors for both XWiki and CryptPad. Then I went and tested as many of them as I could. I did run into issues while trying out some of them, but I managed to use the software provided by most.
I patiently wrote down my thoughts on each competitor, and when I finished, the page ended up being slightly above 9,000 words 🤯. It took me almost a month to finish the whole thing!
While the page is not perfect, and I've been wanting to do a complete overhaul of it for quite a while now, it's still one of the most rewarding things I've worked on so far.
And what about integration into the environment? How easy, or difficult was it for you?
Honestly, I felt a bit awkward at first. I was used to being more or less micromanaged, and this just isn't how things work at XWiki (Thank God).
I was also a bit more anxious at the time, so it was harder for me to be in a new environment, despite everyone being extremely welcoming.
It took me a couple of weeks, but eventually I got used to my new colleagues. Then I got used to the more laid back management style found at XWiki, and I realized I actually prefer it that way (Who could have imagined that being constantly monitored stresses you out).
Interns presentation! (I was literally shaking here)
🔎 Open-source impressions
Was open source something you had an interest in prior to XWiki?
Yesss! I'm definitely an open-source enjoyer. I've been using various open-source tools for years, and whenever I'm searching for software to satisfy whatever need I have at the moment, I tend to prioritize the FOSS solutions.
I've switched from Windows to Linux as my main operating system around 2020-2021. Some audio driver related issue was my last straw. I remember spending literal hours trying to fix it, going to bed defeated, only for the audio to work when I woke up. Then, a couple of hours later it stopped working again. I had no idea what caused the issue and had no idea of how to fix it.
Since switching to Linux, at least I have peace of mind knowing that most of the problems I encounter are just skill issues on my part, and have nothing to do with random updates that broke my system when I wasn't even near my computer.
The first distro I used was Manjaro (not an ideal option for a beginner or for human beings in general), I then switched to NixOS (btw) around 2023.
I also use various open-source apps on my phone.
What's the open-source value you identify with most?
Openness? I try to be as honest as I can, as often as possible. Sometimes I do get a little anxious though, which prevents me from fully speaking my mind.
⌛ Becoming an XWikier
My fist time trying a "French Taco" (I was sooo hungry)
What made you decide to stay as a full-time employee?
I could list a bunch of reasons, such as the great colleagues, the monthly fruit boxes, the fair compensation, the various activities we do at the office, the yearly seminars... I could go on, and on, and on. But if I'm honest, I just feel like I belong. I just feel like I'm treated fairly and with respect. I don't take these things for granted. Not only that, but I'm actually quite grateful for them.
These were the main factors motivating me to stay.
I'd also like to recognize my manager. She's the one that helped me get accommodated to XWiki, and she's been supporting me since my first day as an intern, always checking in and making sure that besides doing my job, I'm also feeling ok.
Thank you, Ștefana! I really appreciate everything you do! 🫶🫶
What would you say is the most valuable lesson you learned during your time at XWiki, so far?
Sometimes, you just gotta take a leap of faith. I've learned that the moment I sent that application email. I kept on saying "I'll do it tomorrow" for a week straight before I actually sat down, wrote the damn thing, and sent it to XWiki.
I was afraid of getting rejected, but at some point I was even more afraid of losing the opportunity. Of living with the regret of knowing that "maybe I should have sent that email".
As I previously stated, it took about 30 minutes from the time I hit "send" to the time I got LinkedIn notifications about people from XWiki checking out my profile. That got me really excited.
Current time Gabriel is eternally grateful to past Gabriel for getting off his *behind* and actually doing it. Now I'm hoping that current time Gabriel can make future Gabriel feel the same way 😅...
If you could describe your XWiki experience in one word, what would it be?
Great!
Favorite memory at XWiki, so far?
Tough to choose. I've barely been here a year, and I already have so many fond memories. I'd have to say though, the 2024 seminar was an amazing experience.
From playing table tennis with Diana (but using the ceiling as the "table"), to talking to Andreea for hours, to learning to swim with the help of Martin, or playing card games and pool with a bunch of my other colleagues. Everything! Everything that happened during that week was great!
Oh, it was also my first time visiting France, so that was quite nice.
