Team Cake: this is Giliam

Name: Giliam Rosseel 	
Role: Data Engineer
Making Cake since: November 2021
Location: Wilsele, Belgium

Tell us about your workspace picture

I just moved into a new apartment together with two of my friends.

The bedroom I got came with its own walk-in closet. As cool as it sounds, I really did not need this space for clothes. I also doubt that, with my distaste for shopping, I’ll ever need it. So, since it was large enough, I decided to turn it into my workspace.

The biggest downside to this decision was that the room has exactly zero windows. Maybe I could install one of those special sunlamps they use in Nordic countries. On the other hand, I must say that it does have a tremendous positive impact on my productivity. This room is fully dedicated to my work and when I’m in it, I’m rarely distracted. I can completely lose track of time and I see this as a big plus. Still, I’m probably going to decorate this space some more. Maybe hang some motivational posters? Or maybe I’ll just copy Thomas and hang some Yoga dogs on my wall.😀

What do you do at Cake?

I joined Cake as a Data Engineer consultant. It is my task to make sure Cake can bring as much value as possible by gathering and enriching valuable data.

In the first few weeks I have worked for Cake, my tasks have mainly revolved around gathering public data from companies. Often, this is done with a practice called web scraping but sometimes, when I’m lucky, there are some APIs or just files readily available. I then provide my fellow colleagues at Cake with clean data files that can speed up their own tasks.

It may sound boring to some but I live for this stuff. I’m a true Data Geek! And it is really cool that I can actually say that my work doesn’t feel like work.

Why Cake and not another company? 

I actually work for Cake as a subcontractor via Dataroots.

As a first client I wished for two things. First, I hoped my first job would give me the opportunity to grow fast as an engineer and give me plenty of different learning experiences. Secondly, I wanted to work with lots and lots of interesting data.

Cake checks these boxes with ease and also provides me the freedom and opportunity to come up and work on my own engineering solutions. On top of that, I truly believe in Cake’s mission to use transactional data to create added value for consumers, businesses and banks.

What’s your impression after your first few weeks at Cake?

I must say I am positively surprised!

I was expecting a clear set of tasks for my first few weeks at a new company. Instead I was presented with the current set of problems and was given the freedom to pitch and work on my own ideas of how to solve them. I always hoped for a job that didn’t feel too much like tedious and repetitive work and somehow I was expecting that “the new guy on the block”, aka me, would be given exactly these kinds of tasks.

But instead I work on fascinating projects with passionate colleagues – like Jessica, Xavier and Davy – that geek about data as much as I do. 

What’s your favorite cake?

Any cake with chocolate would definitely get my attention. But if I had to choose one favorite, I would go for brownies. Something about the smell of them in the oven brings me good vibes.