There are few who can say that their career aligns perfectly with their passion. Shaun Vermaak (Shaun-Vermaak) is one of these lucky few. Since he can remember, Shaun has loved tinkering with broken electronics, experimenting with floppy discs, and learning to write code. “When I really think about it,” Shaun mused, “I’ve always loved the world of technology. This career is just a logical extension of my hobbies.”
In his teens, Shaun would stay up all night playing the classics like Starcraft and Counterstrike with his friends. This love of gaming has evolved into a chronic need for Solving Problems (though he still makes the occasional trip through the Wasteland with his blackfinger Chumbucket). This need drives him through his career as a DevOps technical specialist where he’s worked for the last 16 years. “I have always known what I wanted to do for my profession, and I was very blessed to start my career with a large ITC company,” Shaun said. “It’s been my home since then.”
When the demands of his job doesn’t satisfy the craving for problem-solving, Shaun turns to Experts Exchange. You can find him answering questions and writing articles in .NET Programming and various Microsoft Technologies, where he’s known for his professional demeanor and tenacity. “I love struggling through issues to find an answer,” he says. “The journey to the answer is just as important as the answer itself. Call me crazy, but that’s why I don’t ask a lot of questions myself!”
Shaun generally finds that one small problem that someone halfway across the world is experiencing is generally the stopper for so many larger problems. He feels the community at Experts Exchange allows people to navigate these problems together in order to unlock exponential growth. It creates a sense of camaraderie that you don’t find elsewhere.
For Shaun, his reputation as a professional at the top of his field is of the utmost importance.
“Your reputation is all you have,” he said, “and you can’t stop working at it. Solving problems with people at Experts Exchange becomes a global extension of your professional community at the local level. You interact every day with people you normally wouldn’t get to, and even solving small problems can contribute to your overall reputation.”
When he isn’t at work or contributing online, Shaun enjoys spending time with his wife and two kids hiking through the trails outside of Centurion, South Africa where the four live. He has passed his love for technology on to his nine-year-old daughter, who likes scratch programming and building elaborate structures in Minecraft. “It’s amazing to see what these kids build,” he said. “It’s just a natural instinct for them.”
Shaun also enjoys electronic prototyping, often tinkering with his Raspberry Pi and Arduino boards. “I haven’t made anything useful yet,” he said, “but I’ll let you all know if I do!”
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