The beginning of an IT-job quest
Starting my first year of university was an eye-opening experience for me. I met new people, acquired new skills, learned a lot, and had much fun. After being done with exams, I was left in a place where I wanted to get a job but didn’t exactly know how to. I decided to go job hunting on different sites and found lots of junior offers, some more appealing than others. As no company really sparked my interest, I decided to share something about me in a Facebook group where I often saw ads for IT jobs. That is where Nikolina, one of project managers at Flint SI, noticed me and sent me a message. We exchanged some information, and I got the interview.
The interview
Going into the interview I didn’t know what to expect. I certainly had checked Flint out beforehand, and I quickly noticed that it is not an ordinary IT company. At the interview I met Špela and Blaž, who both tried to get to know me a little bit by asking me some questions. It was more of a friendly talk rather than a scripted interview. They were curious about my past jobs and the kind of work I was interested in. I’d done plenty of different student jobs in the past, but aside from a part-time job teaching kids how to program in Scratch and MIT App Inventor – the experience later proved to be quite useful – I had little experience in the IT industry. After the interview I got the decision soon – I got the job, and I was excited!
What does student work even look like at Flint SI?
I should get my point across immediately – it’s completely different from anything I’ve ever experienced. This holds true for everything, including people, the onboarding process, my work assignments, and everything in between.
Before joining the team, we had a conversation about what I want my work to look like. They explained to me what certain teams do and asked me what I’d like to try. Of course, I couldn’t decide and just told them to give me any work they can find, adding that I’d want to work with many teams to determine which one matches me the best. I worked on a variety of projects, including content creation, programming, and lab automation with Jost Balent, a DevOps engineer with a PhD in his pocket.
Looking back on my experience so far, I’ve improved my skills a lot. I’ve put the knowledge from my university courses to good use and learned a lot of new things as well. There really was a lot of learning involved. But do not worry – the pacing for work is just perfect. The deadlines you get should give you plenty of time to not have to stress over work. The onboarding process makes sure you don’t get overloaded with new information, so everything is well taken care of.
About the people
The people can make or break your work environment. I often lost the feeling of being “at work” because of the interactions with my colleagues. Employees have the freedom of choosing to work at home or from the office. Yet I still noticed a lot of people were office dwellers, which may sound a bit strange for an IT company as people usually prefer to work from home in this industry. I quickly found out why many colleagues prefer to work like that. The atmosphere at work is relaxed, people talk to each other and share their jokes, experiences, obtain knowledge from others.
Aside from that, there was another great thing there – food. I enjoy delicious meals, so I was excited to learn that some of my colleagues sometimes bring food from home for others to try. It wasn’t long before I found some goodies in the dining room. The community here is awesome, they are very accepting and lots of colleagues came up to me first just to strike up a conversation. All of them were prepared to answer my (almost countless) questions. Sharing expertise and knowledge here is inevitable and encouraged here. Newcomers, prepare to meet a lot of entertaining, exciting, knowledgeable, and experienced people with a good sense of humor sprinkled on top.
Growth opportunities
Besides developing technical skills, I also had the opportunity to try out other things. Giving classes, helping others and teaching are the areas that I naturally navigate to. Thus I really appreciated Flint’s weekly “Hone Up Your Presentation Skills” workshops, led by Jaka Javornik, one of the most experienced technical instructors at Flint. My only prior experience with such presentations were online classes and teaching kids how to program in Scratch. I had a lot to learn in terms of presenting in front of a live and adult audience. Constructive feedback from the team and other attendees of the workshop helped me and other attendees improve our skills – a significant difference was noticeable after only a few sessions! On a more technical side of trainings, I am currently in the process of studying for my first Cisco certificate. Encouragement to learn and acquiring skills is a part of Flint SI’s DNA.
There are other perks as well
Setting work aside, you’ll find plenty of things to do. To promote employee well-being and fitness, the company organises many (non-mandatory) sports activities, and lots of people attend on a regular basis.
Not only sports, but there are also food and beverages that will keep your brain and body going – you will always find some fresh fruits and nuts in the shared dining room while the kitchenette is well stacked with varieties of teas and coffees.
Last but not least, let me share my favourite thing – a flexible work schedule; I get to work wherever and whenever I can for as much as I want. As my primary focus now is on studying for university, the given flexibility fits me perfectly, allowing me to manage my study-work balance easily and effectively.
We are not just a highly skilled team of technical experts; we are much more than that.
Get in touch, we are looking forward to hearing from you!