Software Development
Technically Talent Tell-All

Chariot Solutions: a ‘family’ that’s not afraid to ask questions

Chariot Software Consultant Jack Lazorchak explains why lifelong learners like him might want to consider this Fort Washington-based dev shop.

Jack Lazorchak, a software consultant at Chariot Solutions (Photo by Cary Betagole)

Jack Lazorchak, a software consultant at Chariot Solutions, loves working in technology for the same reason he loves testing recipes with his sous vide cooker and designing his own mechanical keyboard: the opportunity to learn.

Originally from Pittsburgh, Lazorchak started as a pre-med student at the University of Pittsburgh but eventually switched to computer science. After graduation, he worked for a company focused on artificial intelligence and human avatars as well as a healthcare-based startup. He gained a lot of experience in the Spring Framework, in particular.

When Lazorchak and his girlfriend decided to move closer to family in Philadelphia, he put feelers out for jobs in the City of Brotherly Love. One friend suggested he check out Technical.ly Philly, where he discovered a senior Spring Framework developer position at Chariot Solutions.

“Before I was hired, I had a call with the CEO, Mike Rappaport, and it felt to me like Chariot had everything that was missing from the previous startups I had worked at,” Lazorchak said. “A lot of them felt like just give relationships. At Chariot Solutions, it feels like a true give and take.”

An early riser, Lazorchak wakes up around 6 a.m. every day to go to a gym near Chariot, where the company offers a subsidized gym membership. He ends the day by picking up his one-year-old basset hound, Ruby, from doggy daycare.

Today, Lazorchak’s responsibilities as a software consultant at Chariot Solutions range from building brand-new product features to bug fixes to production support.

Here’s what you should know if you’re interested in joining Lazorchak at Chariot.

This job could be right for you if …

  • You’re looking for that family feel

Lazorchak says he’s grateful to have found a “family” to learn and grow with. “We talk about the ‘Chariot family’ here,” he said. “You’ll see that word on lots of job postings, but it really does absolutely feel like a family here… even outside of technology, you find people who are into what you’re into and care about what’s going on in your life.”

  • You like working with cutting-edge tech

Chariot Solutions is always looking for projects that require new and interesting technologies.

“We are developing a system for issuing different types of bonds — like court bonds or estate bonds — from an online portal. It’s interesting because we get to work with new technology. For example, Node.js is the backend and Angular 2+ is the front end, so that’s neat because I had had an interest in learning more about node and JavaScript on the backend,” Lazorchak said.

“The team was great about helping me out as I learned, and it’s cool to now be able to come out of the project with a new skill.”

This job isn’t the best fit for you if …

  • You like to always be given a strict set of requirements or fear accepting or suggesting change.

Each project has unique challenges, both business and technical, in various industries. The Chariot team likes to dig deep and ask questions.

  • You don’t enjoy being hands on at least 75 percent of the time.

Chariot is a company of practitioners who also love to peek under the hood to learn how things work.

Don’t worry if …

  • You need to bounce questions off coworkers

“There were times where I felt like I was in such a deep, complex problem and my CTO, Aaron Mulder, would just tell me ‘Try this’ and then I’d do it and it worked,” said Lazorchak. “Together, we’d talk about why it worked so I could learn from it. That’s one of the nice things about working here — you don’t have to be afraid to ask, and somebody here will definitely be able and more than willing to help you out.”

Chariot Solutions is a Technically Talent client and reviewed this article before publication.

Companies: Chariot Solutions

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