Team Member Spotlight: Nicholas Szeto

You know you’re working in a great place when friends refer friends for job opportunities. Nicholas Szeto had recently graduated from San Francisco State when a friend, and former Appstem teammate Kendrick Kwok, suggested he consider an opening at the company. 

Nicholas studied computer science and taught himself React and React Native. At the same time, Appstem was growing quickly and looking to build its team of experts.

Given the position is Nicholas’ first out of college, he sees the Appstem environment as an opportunity to both learn new technologies and work with an experienced team.

“The team has given me more confidence in my capabilities,” Szeto said. “I haven’t always been sure of what I’m doing but I am comfortable asking questions and have really surprised myself about what I’ve learned and what I can do.”

Right now, much of his work is focused on front-end development but he has had occasion to analyze back-end server services. He’s hoping to not only successfully develop projects for clients but also continue to expand his areas of expertise.

“I’m always up for self and peer improvement no matter the scale,” he said. “Anything significant wasn't built in a day, so my philosophy is to be as dependable as possible to build and improve one small step at a time.” 

His problem solving skills and interest in learning new things combine in a personal passion outside of the office - cooking. Szeto started documenting great meals he had at restaurants throughout the Bay Area and created a website to keep track of them and eventually recreate some of his favorites. He has become quite the home chef - from smoking and grilling to making soups and other recipes - and keeps track of them on a website he created. When he’s not crafting delicious dishes, he also enjoys playing video games, building and painting models and archery.

“Appstem gives me the work-life balance to be able to mix work and fun,” he said.