You’re on your own time now! The BootQamp is not your average “welcome to the team” HR program. Sure, it involves inductions, meets & greets, but most importantly it’s a 3 month in-depth, assisted dive into company culture for newcomers. It sounds excessive, but we do some things very different here: we actually believe the values we put on our walls mean something in our day-to-day work, we use revolutionary methodologies like rapid prototyping, next-gen technologies, and we know we can find ways to say “yes” to the toughest challenges.
This summer was a busy one in Q. We’ve had new recruits who managed not only to pass through our BootQamp safe and sound, but also “graduate” with a set of newly (or more in-depth) acquired skills. Meet Bogdan-the-designer, Ruxandra-the-tester and Ionut-the-developer. Read the pop-quiz below to find out how their first three months in QUALITANCE felt like and what they’ve learned.
What new professional skill have you gained in your first 3 months in QUALITANCE?
Bogdan: I’ve picked up illustration techniques since I’ve started working here. It’s something that I’ve wanted to learn for quite some time.
Ruxandra: Automation, for sure. I got to use JMeter and I’m pretty excited about it!
Ionut: For me that would be hybrid apps development. Never worked on this before and know I’m diving straight into it.
What new personal skill have you gained in your first 3 months in QUALITANCE?
Bogdan: Due to the fast pace of QUALITANCE, I’ve totally gained some time management skills, deal better with stressful situations and have also picked up meditation. It’s great!
Ruxandra: I think the most notable would be public speaking: I’ve never held presentations in front of mid-sized to large audiences before.
Ionut: I wouldn’t say it’s something particularly new, but it definitely helped me work better within a team!
3 favorite things about QUALITANCE?
Bogdan: Variation in projects / Interesting technologies / Cool people
Ruxandra: The people / The informal but professional atmosphere / Great HQ location
Ionut: Awesome people / Stimulating work environment / Thursday Beers
Biggest challenge in your first 3 months at QUALITANCE?
Bogdan: The biggest challenge in the first 3 months was probably to adapt to all kinds of new projects, some of them with tight deadlines.
Ruxandra: Taking part in the Summer Internship program as a teacher. It was the first time I talked about “the testing craft” to a larger group of people, and I definitely had to get out of my comfort zone for this.
Ionut: Delivering a project within 2 weeks a after a huge scope pivot of a project. Phew!
3 people you’ve learned something while in the BootQamp: who are they and what have you learned from them?
Bogdan: Serban taught me how something that works great for a device might not work at all for another that’s apparently similar, Bogdan Musteaţă taught me technical stuff about Photoshop and Illustrator and Sorana taught me how to deal with stressful situations and approach challenging tasks.
Ruxandra: Dragos taught me how to smile in every situation and I also appreciate both Edi & Cristi as Delivery Managers, since they have both taught me how to manage tasks waaaay more efficiently and take on full responsibility for my work.
Ionut: Bogdan – our CTO – (yes, we have a lot of guys named Bogdan) taught me patience, Ovidiu always sets a great example in teamwork while from Adriana I’ve clearly learned to better understand the people around me.
Now that we’ve got serious stuff off our chests, have you got a funny story from your BootQamp phase?
Bogdan: Honestly? Every day comes with one fun thing, even if it’s as small as a joke told in the lunch break.
Ruxandra: I don’t know about funny, but the most fun I’ve had was at the ALL HANDS event in June. Just picture teams of 6-8 people getting organized to fetch various things such as a boiled egg, a tire, a blue light bulb or a dog in the heart of the mountains, where the team building took place (at Lake Vidraru). Yes, you read it right – a dog. The organizers specified, and I quote, “a living, breathing dog”.
Ionut: For a Thursday Beer night, we used a desk mate’s empty table as a prop for the event. The next day, we came up with a prank idea: since his desk was empty already, me and a couple of colleagues put all of his things in a cardboard box and told him he was asked to go the HR office. You can’t imagine the confused look on his face. As he started walking up the stairs we could not hold our laughter and told him it was just a joke. This is how we roll.
And that’s not all: keep an eye on the stories about our team and how people work, learn and innovate at QUALITANCE. Just follow us on social media and be sure to return back here for more!
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