Software Engineer Marek Broda is happy he joined funda during hybrid working times...
Software Engineer Marek Broda is happy he joined funda during hybrid working times, so he could meet his new colleagues at the office. What do a fresh pair of eyes think of the company? He shares the five things that stood out for him during his first four weeks.
1. The perks of hybrid working 🏢
Having joined funda once the Netherlands had started to open up again, post COVID-19, I have been able to work from the office, which is located on the IJ river in the middle of Amsterdam. The company operates a hybrid remote model and I’ve found this really helpful to get to know my team and other colleagues.
I’ve been able to talk with people over lunch, play a game of table tennis or FIFA and join funda's social canal cruises around Amsterdam. I also feel that it's helped me get to know the company culture, and got me up to speed much quicker than if I were working remotely the whole time.
See also: 6 highlights during my first four weeks at funda: Product Owner Ugo
2. The international vibe 🌍
Funda is a real melting pot, employing people from all over the world. It’s great to be able to work with people from so many different backgrounds. The company does a lot to help new hires settle in and feel welcome, no matter where they come from.
You also get the opportunity to have Dutch lessons organised for you. They’re one-to-one lessons at the office and really help you improve your language skills. And even whilst there are so many international people, you still hear lots of Dutch, so there are plenty of opportunities to practice!
3. Helping fellow developers 🙌
As a new member of the platform team, I work primarily on tools and infrastructure that the other Engineering teams use. What this means is that our role is to work closely with other engineers to find out what they need to make their lives better, and then to help make that happen.
I’ve joined in the final phases of a large CI/CD migration project, so I’ve dived straight in to helping ensure that all our services will have pipelines that their developers love. As an added bonus, it should improve the quality of the product.
4. Following the Golden Paths 🏎️
Since funda is a large and complicated system built up over a long period of time, there are lots of different technologies and methodologies that you need to get to grips with. Thankfully, we have adopted the concept of Golden Paths.
This easy-to-access and easy-to-maintain documentation provides you with recommendations and best practices, and helps you understand how the team has solved technical problems. As a new engineer in the team, it has been a great help.
See also: My first four weeks at funda: Software Engineer Bektur
5. Love for the brand ❤️
Funda has been around for 20 years now and you’ll struggle to find someone in the Netherlands that doesn’t know the brand. As an engineer, it’s great to know that you are working on a product that is used by so many people, including many that you know.
Since starting at the company, I’ve had loads of great reactions when I said that I now work at funda. Although, no, it doesn’t mean that I can help you buy a house!
