Take a look at a day in the life of Kelly Jin, Lead Platform Support Engineer at Unqork.
As Lead Platform Support Engineer at Unqork, Kelly Jin helps lead technical escalations and projects for the Production Support team, which is comprised of Configuration Support and Platform Support. It’s her job to monitor any platform-oriented issues that might come up after releases, lead investigations, and make sure tickets get resolved in a timely manner. It’s a lot of hard work, but Kelly always makes time to decompress at the beginning and end of every day. Spend the day with Kelly and see where her time goes.
7:30 AM: I wake up and go for a morning walk if it’s not too snowy or cold in NYC. I’ll usually bring hot tea in a to-go cup to keep me warm and walk along the East River in Manhattan. I like to set aside time to be unplugged and undisturbed before a busy day ahead.
8:30 AM: After my walk, I make breakfast and sit down to review my to-do list for the day. I like to write my to-do lists at the end of the previous day so that any active projects, tasks, and next steps are fresh in my mind. It makes it easier to remember what I have to do when I review my pre-written list every morning!
9:00 AM: Project time! Based on my projects tracker and to-do list, I start working on my outlined next steps. These projects are typically internal-facing and provide my team with tools to promote self-enablement and increase visibility into role responsibilities. The latest and greatest project my team has been able to roll out is a feature flag tool that operationalizes feature flag management by allowing the Support team to turn feature flags on or off using the Unqork platform! This is just one example of how we can use the Unqork platform to manage the platform itself.
10:30 AM: I have a 1-on-1 meeting with manager, Jessica. We review any outstanding questions, go over project progress statuses, brainstorm new projects, and just generally update each other on what’s been going on. We also discuss my professional goals. My overall goals for the last review cycle were to expand my technical skill sets and take on more leadership roles.
12:00 PM: I have another 1-on-1 with one of my good Unqork friends, Abbie! I love hearing her travel stories and seeing her adorable Goldendoodle Pepper Ann on Zoom. Abbie always supports me and encourages everyone to participate in the fun and inclusive groups we have here at Unqork!
1:00 PM: It’s time for my daily team scrum meeting with the Platform Support team. We use this time to talk through any procedural or technical questions between Configuration Support and Platform Support and align on tickets.
When a ticket first comes in on Zendesk, the level 1 team takes the first pass and does the initial troubleshooting with the client. If necessary, they’ll escalate accordingly to Configuration Support or Platform Support in Zendesk, and then they’ll escalate to and investigate with the appropriate internal group. We’ll talk about escalated tickets in scrum and walk through the procedural and technical next steps.
1:30 PM: Time for lunch! My favorite place to order lunch from is Vanessa’s Dumplings or Joe’s Shanghai. I live in Chinatown so I am spoiled with delicious food and so many options!
2:00 PM: I have my standing weekly meeting with the Support team and Customer Success to discuss the state of current client accounts, including known issues, upcoming changes/releases, and action items. We also use this time to do an overall health check for clients.
3:00 PM: After the meeting, I hold my weekly office hours where I leave Zoom open for anyone on my team to join via the calendar event. If there’s no one there, I concurrently work on projects and continue my work from earlier in the day.
3:30 PM: For my last work call of the day, I meet with Program Management to review internal affairs and activities from that week. We use these meetings to come up with our next iteration of procedural optimizations to minimize redundant tasks or issues. This is in preparation for a larger meeting to review the same items on the following day.
5:30 PM: Now it’s time for an ERSG leadership meeting for Subtle Asian Qorks. The vision of our group is to amplify the unique voices in the Asian community, support Asian professional growth, eliminate implicit biases, appreciate intersectionality & diversity, and educate the world about the Asian identity.
5:00 PM: I wrap up any remaining tasks and create my to-do list for the next day.
5:30 PM: Now it’s time for an ERSG leadership meeting for Subtle Asian Qorks. The vision of our group is to amplify the unique voices in the Asian community, support Asian professional growth, eliminate implicit biases, appreciate intersectionality & diversity, and educate the world about the Asian identity. As the secretary of the group, I set the agenda for the meetings, manage calendar invites, and do a bunch of organizational things to make sure everything runs smoothly.
6:30 PM: I start dinner—my mom’s noodle recipe is my favorite comfort food—and I’ll throw on Netflix while I cook and eat. This is my time to unwind, Facetime family or friends, listen to music, or read a book. Currently, I’m watching Firefly Lane on Netflix and reading The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer.
If you like This Is Us I’d definitely recommend Firefly Lane—they’re both very emotionally intense. You’ll also like Firefly Lane if you like shows where things come full circle and there’s a lot of flashbacks. I would also recommend “The Untethered Soul” if you like non-fiction or are looking for something to help you free yourself from external stressors. This book is less self-help and more self-transformation, in my opinion.
10:00 PM: Time to get ready for bed!
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