During his eight years at NetConstruct, senior systems developer, Liam Goldfinch, has blossomed from a university graduate to a highly esteemed Kentico Xperience Developer. In recognition of his achievements, Liam was recently invited as a guest panellist to Kentico’s ‘Ask the Experts’ series, discussing his development and knowledge of the Kentico Xperience platform. 
 
Here's a summary of what was covered… 

Climbing the ladder 

Alongside other panellists, Liam discussed his progression in a development role since joining NetConstruct from beginning on our help desk to his revelation that even the best of developers still turn to resources and documents for help.  

“I joined straight out of university; I didn’t have any experience in what a CMS was and I didn’t really know how websites functioned at that point in time. So, I’ve really gone from knowing nothing to, now eight years down the line, knowing quite a lot about not only Kentico technology, but also Umbraco and headless CMS.” 

Liam continually praised the Kentico Xperience community for how much they influence his career choices and provide endless support, stating groups like DevNet, Stack Overflow and the Slack community as valuable sources when it comes to mastering a new aspect or feature of Kentico Xperience.  

Brushing up your knowledge 

Sharing tip and tricks, Liam revealed that code reviewing is personally his favourite way to touch up his knowledge and learn new design patterns. He even said something as simple as a follow-on Twitter to the Kentico MVP’s can open up a whole new world of updates and features.  

“I think one of the biggest resources that we’ve got is the Kentico experience MVP’s who regularly post blogs and information out on their Twitter and LinkedIn. It’s just a really good resource. I enjoy reading them and rediscovering features that have come back. So, following the MVPs on social media is a great way of getting information.” 

A special mention was given to apps like Dancing Goat, which allow developers like him to test code before using it on client’s website, leaving other members of the panel nodding their heads in agreement, praising the app for its fast response time and easy to understand features.  

Devnet also sparked a note of appraisal from panellists, celebrating how the question-and-answer format allows developers from across the globe to discuss updates, features and problems.  

Look to the experts 

As a Kentico developer, the sky is the limit. Being a part of these communities who understand you and want to help you find and discover the solutions to what you want to achieve, Liam encouraged everyone to consistently ask questions, share information and be on the lookout for ways to become a better developer.  

You can see Liam in action and watch the whole Kentico Xperience Ask the Experts video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvOntW485Pw