From Grad to L3 developer in under 3 years – Ewart Stone

Going from a fresh university graduate to an L3 Developer in under three years is a massive leap. But at NextGen, we believe early talent shouldn’t have to wait years to handle real impact.

We sat down with one of our recently promoted developers, Ewart Stone, to talk about mentorship, taking ownership of major projects and what it really takes to fast-track your software engineering career.

Q: What major milestones helped you move from a fresh graduate to an L3 Developer so quickly?

A: “It came down to taking on high-impact responsibilities early:”

• Core architecture redesign: I worked on the Product Search service to handle complex lender rate criteria, reworking databases and pipeline architectures.
• R&D process improvement: I created a database procedure unit-testing process that was adopted department-wide.
• Technical mentorship: I guided junior developers during code reviews to build team-wide code quality.”

Q: How did the team help you bridge the gap between university and real-world engineering?

A: “Academic study provides the fundamentals, but enterprise engineering requires practical scale. Mentorship and peer reviews helped bridge that gap across three key areas:

• Building maintainable and scalable production systems.
• Mastering real-world deployment toolchains.Collaborating effectively across cross-functional engineering teams.”

Q: Was there a specific moment where you realised your role and impact had scaled up?

A: “Definitely. Early this year, my tech lead mentioned a new initiative, a major extension to our Assessment service, and I put my name down for it. This project quickly required my involvement and participation from initial research, system architecture planning, stakeholder engagement and ongoing implementation. Being deeply involved in the senior engineering processes has placed me in close proximity to many factors quite beyond the responsibility I had initially as a graduate (including resolving software tickets and implementing foundational features).”

Q: How would you describe the culture at NextGen to a graduate looking to grow fast?

A: “The environment is highly supportive and focused on rapid professional development: There’s dedicated time invested in your technical growth and  the autonomy and trust to lead projects, present ideas and improve internal workflows.”

Q: What advice would you give to incoming graduates who want to follow a similar path?

A: “Three main things:

1. Show up ready to learn: Keep an open, cooperative mindset every day.
2. Be proactive: Constantly look for ways to make your team’s projects better.
3. Don’t fear the experience gap: Share your ideas and fresh perspectives, your voice matters from day one.”

Ready to fast-track your software engineering career in an environment built on mentorship and real impact?

• Explore our current openings: Find your next challenge on our Jobs Page.
• Stay connected: Not ready to apply just yet? Join our Online Community to stay updated on new roles and see what is happening behind the scenes.
• Get to know us: Learn more about our mission, our values, and our people by visiting our Careers Page.