Shubham Lingayat: Front-End Engineer Spotlight

RaftLabs has been named the "Best Company to Work With" by GoodFirms. To mark the occasion, we sat down with Shubham Lingayat, a front-end engineer who had just finished his first year here.

Shubham worked on live client projects, learned new technologies, and mentored a junior hire within his first 12 months. Below is the full interview.

Reflecting back on your first year

Congratulations on completing your first year at RaftLabs. What has the experience been like as a front-end engineer?

I'm genuinely glad to be part of this team. The work pushes me. Every project has challenged me to grow, and I've had room to do that.

What I appreciate most is that communication here is direct. If something isn't clear, you ask. If you know something useful, you share it. That approach has made it much easier to work with my colleagues and deliver results for clients.

The company also makes time for professional development, which matters a lot in a field that moves as fast as software.

Collaborative culture

How do you work with your colleagues? What have you picked up from them?

One of the most useful habits I've developed came from my lead, Sarang. When I hit a technical problem, his advice was to write it down first. Describe the issue clearly before you ask for help.

It sounds simple. But most of the time, the act of writing it out helps me find the solution myself. I'd recommend it to any developer, especially someone new.

The other thing I've learned: projects rarely go exactly as planned. If you estimate a task will take one day, something unexpected will come up. Being flexible with your schedule isn't a weakness. It's how good engineers operate.

Experience with client calls

You've had the chance to attend client calls. How has that gone?

I worked with Brandfire and on the AldiFest project. My project managers prepared well for every call. They had questions ready in advance, which made the whole experience feel organized and professional.

That preparation gave me confidence. I could focus on listening and contributing rather than worrying about what came next.

New technologies implemented

What new technologies did you learn and put into practice this year?

Three stood out.

TypeScript. It adds static typing to JavaScript, which means you catch errors during development rather than in production. On large-scale applications, this makes a real difference to code quality and maintainability. The State of JS 2024 survey found TypeScript adoption has reached 78% among surveyed JavaScript developers.

GraphQL. It lets you specify exactly what data you need from an API. No over-fetching, no gaps. Responses are more consistent and the network overhead drops. For the kind of data-heavy front ends we build, that matters. Apollo's 2023 State of GraphQL report found that 59% of GraphQL adopters cited performance improvements as the primary driver for switching from REST.

NX workspace. It's a development toolkit built around mono-repo management and code generation. It helps keep large codebases organized. With NX, you can build more scalable applications without losing track of structure.

These three together changed how I think about front-end architecture.

Work-life balance

On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your work-life balance as a remote engineer?

Honestly, a six. Some of that is on me.

The main issue I've identified is meeting time. I'll estimate seven hours for a day's tasks but forget to account for three hours of calls. Then I work late to catch up. That's a planning problem, not a company problem.

I'm working on building better buffers into my estimates. The flexibility RaftLabs offers is genuinely there. I just need to use it more deliberately.

Influence of company values

Has the company's culture shaped how you work or think?

Yes. The emphasis on clear communication has carried into my personal life too.

The principle here is straightforward: if you know something relevant, say it. If you're unsure, ask. Don't let ambiguity sit.

I've applied that at home, with family, even in online games where coordination matters. Transparent communication works everywhere.

Personal growth through mentorship

Have you had a chance to mentor or support new hires?

I mentored Meet, who was new to React. I helped with tasks and recommended some learning resources.

What I took from it: everyone learns at a different pace and in a different way. The approach that works for one person won't work for another. You have to slow down, ask questions to understand where they're stuck, and give them time to process things.

That patience -- with someone else's learning -- is a skill I hadn't deliberately practiced before. I'm a better communicator now because of it.

Key takeaway from year one

What's the one lesson you'll carry forward?

Everything in software is about people. You build products for people. You build them with people. And the people on your team all have different working styles and energy levels.

Learning to work with that variation, rather than against it, is what makes a team function well.

Plans for year two

How do you see the year ahead? What would you do differently?

I want to tighten up project planning, particularly around time estimation. I also want to focus on delivering the best outcomes for clients, not just completing tasks.

Beyond that, I'm excited to keep building. The work here is the kind that teaches you something new every week.

On technology changing

You mentioned that technology changes but the principles stay the same. Can you expand on that?

Technology evolves quickly. The tools we use today won't be the tools we use in five years.

But the core of good engineering stays constant: understand the problem, find the cleanest solution, test it, and improve it. Those principles apply regardless of what language or framework is in play. If you build that foundation, you can adapt to whatever comes next.

Final question

What's the longest you've spent on a single bug?

About a week. It wasn't all day every day on the same issue, but it was always in the back of my mind. Eventually I tracked it down. That bug taught me more than any course has.

Shubham's year at RaftLabs reflects how the company approaches engineering: real client work from day one, room to learn, and a team culture built on direct communication. If you're thinking about joining, his experience gives an honest picture of what to expect.