When and why did you join Project A?
I joined Project A in 2013. After quitting my studies I was looking for something new to do. I didn’t really know what but I knew that I did not want to start new studies but try something more practical. I searched for apprenticeships and there were not many options that I could imagine myself doing. “Fachinformatikerin für Anwendungsentwicklung” was the only one that sounded interesting and was offered by some companies. So I applied for that position at some companies and one of those was Project A. I did not have any experience with programming languages or Startups. My interview went well, I really liked Project A and especially the people that I met. So I was super happy when I was offered an internship and if that would go well also the apprenticeship.
Tell us about your Project A journey.
I felt quite soon that this is exactly what I would like to do. The job was interesting, involved a lot of learning and I got the feeling and the feedback that I was quite good at it. It often felt like solving puzzles and that’s what I always liked a lot. I had great colleagues who taught me so much and got the chance to work with several portfolio companies quite soon. I finished the apprenticeship after two years and after that stayed at Project A as Junior Java Developer. I learned more and more and got a lot of experience in different projects and tech areas and made my way to Medium and Senior Backend Developer. 3 years ago I was promoted to Teamlead of one of the Backend Engineering teams and since last year I’m Head of Technical Program Management.
What are your career goals? In what ways is Project A helping you to achieve thosegoals?
Throughout my career the goals I wanted to achieve changed of course. In the beginning I was interested in Backend Development but quite soon I also wanted to know more about Frontend and Infrastructure. So for some time I planned to be a Full Stack Developer but when I got insights into all those areas I also realized that I have a lot of fun conceptualizing and planning things and coordinating people. Especially I like to have a full overview of the Tech landscape and all plans around it when I’m working on a project. I like to influence those plans, share my experience and discuss decisions with other people. In all that time Project A supported my goals. I was able to work in different departments and different roles. I learned about Backend, Frontend and Infrastructure. I got the chance to take part in architecturing system landscapes and developing technical solutions in many different areas. My opinion was always requested and valued. Whenever I wanted to grow there was an option for that. But what I especially like, is also sometimes being pushed into a situation that I don’t feel 100% comfortable in. In such situations I was able to learn and grow the most and it also became much clearer to me what I can do and what I want to do.
What do you love most about Project A’s company culture and what made you stay so long?
The company value that is most important to me is ‘no assholes allowed’. I like to work in a friendly environment, I don’t like unnecessary pressure and threats. And even though everybody is nice to each other it still means that honest feedback is highly appreciated. So what I like second best is that I’m always allowed and often even asked to share my opinion and feedback and that this feedback also leads to change. Because change is good 😉
Thank you Steffi for sharing some insights of your journey at Project A! If you are interested in joining Project A or our ventures in the near future, feel free to check out our current openings here.