Zaneta Baran

How is it to work at Vaimo? I got this question several times already from friends who wanted to join the company or others who were just curious about how it is to work for Magento Global Elite Solution Partner. I thought I would share my experiences with a bigger audience in case some of you are considering Vaimo as a future employer.

It is important to point out that everything written below is my own opinion and they were added here based on my own experiences. No, Vaimo didn’t pay me to do this 🙂 Moreover, this article is based on the fact that I have been working at Vaimo for 3 years, starting as Frontend Developer, through Scrum Master, to Technical Manager, across different offices working with different projects. And I am still an employee of Vaimo while writing this blog post.

Vaimo is about fun

The first thing which came to mind when I started to write this post was FUN. It is one of the core values of Vaimo and definitely true. Vaimo organises so many events, starting from Friends & Family nights, Christmas Dinners, Team Building, Kick Off events as well as free breakfasts, free drinks or theme nights. The events can vary from office to office. Some of the offices have more events, others less. It really depends on the current situation and projects. I joined Vaimo UK office at the beginning when the office was first established. There was just a couple of us, a small office and a few events. However, after 2 years we were already in a nice sized office space, with a bigger team in the center of London, having free breakfasts, free lunches, theme nights, team activities and so on. Now, I am in a new office in the Philippines managing a development team and helping to build our strong Asian branch. We don’t have so many events at the moment, but watch us, in time we will have more fun than work 😉

Vaimo is about people and family

I love this point. Again I will talk for myself from a foreigner’s perspective. I moved to London in 1 week after I got an offer from Vaimo UK. I am not really a social person when I don’t know the people around me. However, Vaimo UK became my family really quickly. Imagine being in an office full of foreigners, living in the UK, really often without any family nor friends. Your office will become your home at some point.

Vaimo UK is definitely about people and I know what I am talking about. While living in the UK I went through a personal roller coaster and my colleagues were always there for me. It doesn’t matter if I was crying the whole morning, or needed someone to fetch me from home, these people were always there for me. My colleagues are my best friends, work is so much nicer when you work with people who you feel close to.

Vaimo is about engagement

I love when people are engaged in whatever they are doing at a particular time. You give your 100% or just go home. And that is what I have noticed in Vaimo UK office. I can truly say, I adore the fact that I could work with high professionals who know what their responsibilities are about and they just work hard to achieve the results. Yes, sometimes it means working late hours, sometimes it means working over the weekend, sometimes it means travelling long hours, but hey, it is what I love about this job. You do it because you love it, because you take responsibility for your tasks, because you want to deliver high quality.

Of course, let’s be realistic, not all people are perfect, not all people are always engaged and sometimes it can happen that you work with people who don’t care, but in my Vaimo history it has happened to me only a few times.

Vaimo is about freedom

Freedom, it is one of my words, my value and my point in life. Life is about being free, happy and independent. I am definitely an individualist and I have always had difficulties with being around people. Vaimo gives me freedom in all aspects. I can decide how I work, when I work and where I work, of course, in reasonable limits. I feel free in making my own decisions and if I have a valid point I can change a lot. Again, don’t take this point too far, it is still your job, it still depends on your manager and office where you work in. But the general idea is – if you have a valid point, then do whatever you need to.

Vaimo is about challenges

Challenges, that’s what drives me in my life. But I need to tell you, this point really depends on you. I believe nothing will come to your life because of luck. You need to work hard for it. When you are not engaged enough, you are not showing your work. If you are working in the corner trying to deliver enough to be accepted, then don’t expect that something will happen in your life, especially at work. You can work on challenging projects or you can work on boring projects. You can say, it depends on luck but I don’t agree with that. It depends on you. I have been working on known projects not because I was lucky, but because I was working for it.

Vaimo is also about challenges because of the fact that you work with people across the globe. You need to be ready for different cultures and habits. From my own experiences, I needed to learn a lot. I needed to learn how to be open enough with Swedish management, how to communicate well enough with Ukrainian developers, how to be polite enough for British office managers and so on. Now the question is – do you like challenges? If so, it is a place for you.

Vaimo is about hard work

Let’s be realistic now. You need to work really hard to achieve something in this world. Some will say, work smart – I agree with it. Work smart. But smartness really often goes hand in hand with hard work. Of course, nobody will force you to work long hours, you can still keep working as you wish, it is really up to you. But, if you want to progress in your career, you just need to work hard, not only in Vaimo but in any other place. At Vaimo you have the possibility for it. There are so many big projects where you can show your skills and learn a lot. And if you are in my team, work as hard as we do – do not give me headaches, please 🙂

Vaimo is about less stress and great teamwork

IT agencies can make you stress as any other type of businesses. Big projects, tight deadlines, scope management, junior developers and at some point you are freaking out. I want to say that Vaimo is a little bit different. Yes, it is still stressful, but the difference is that there are people around who can help you. That’s what I like about Vaimo. You can reach out to C-level management, you can reach out to any developer from a different office and country. And trust me, I am currently joking that some people within the organisation already don’t like me after the millions of the questions I have asked them.

I have experiences working in other IT agencies and I know how stressful it can be and how lonely you can feel with all the stuff to be done. Here I send an email or a message to my colleagues from another office and even if they are not obliged to help me I always get some help. Teamwork is one of the core values in Vaimo and it definitely works this way in reality.

Vaimo is about business trips

Before I joined Vaimo I asked if I will be able to travel. I love travelling and it already became my lifestyle, I cannot imagine living in one place for longer than 2 years. If you are good enough, you can easily have so many business trips over the years. I am a good example of it. In Europe I have been travelling around the offices to learn and teach, in Asia I am sharing my knowledge with new developers and new offices.

Also we cannot forget about our freaking awesome kick offs. It is the best time of the year when I can meet face to face with people that I have been working with for months online. We can work, grow and have fun all together. In my Vaimo bucket list is still to visit South Africa and Dubai – guys from management level, if you are reading this I hope you will remember where I should be sent next time, haha… 🙂

Vaimo is about pushing

This point will be a little bit controversial and really subjective. I never got anything in my life for free, I was working hard in 4 jobs as a student to afford my living, to buy my own car, to buy my own motorbike, to finally be able to travel around the world and make my dreams come true. Moreover, I have never got any financial support. These experiences taught me that you just need to work for your life and dreams. In my case, the same applies in Vaimo. I am working hard and pushing hard to be noticed, to work on challenging projects, to be able travel while working, to get to another level of my career.

Yes, I push. I don’t know if it is a good strategy but it is one of the ways that I know is working for me. You just need to know what you want from the start and work for it. When I joined Vaimo I had a clear understanding of what I want to achieve in this company and I am on my way. I am not saying that doing your job and not pushing is wrong. Don’t get me wrong, I am pushing because I don’t like waiting for the time when I will be lucky enough, I am pushing because I know what I want.

What else…?

What else can I say about Vaimo? I really like this company. Don’t think that I am trying to show Vaimo only from a positive perspective. Working here is not always fun and it is not always stress-free. Working here can sometimes upset you, working here can sometimes disappoint you. And yes, sometimes I feel mad that I don’t get a response quick enough, sometimes I don’t like decisions which have been made, sometimes I don’t understand team allocation and sometimes I feel I could do stuff better than my manager, sometimes I feel like I am not appreciated enough or sometimes I feel like I don’t grow fast enough.

At some point I will probably get to the point when I will leave the company because I feel I am not growing anymore as a person. But all of it is just life- business is business, I.T is I.T. . . You will not be happy every day and you will not like everyone who you work with. What is most important? The overview. How the company makes you feel in general, and even if I am not always happy, I like working here and I am grateful for the opportunities that I made here for myself. Thanks Vaimo! 🙂

If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a message or follow my IG @woman.in.nerdy.world

Check out How I have started working in IT? for more information about my journey or IT is not for woman! to have an overview what to expect while starting working in IT.

Disclaimer

Vaimo is not associated with the post in any way. All information added to the blog post are my own personal opinions based on my own experiences.

All pictures are taken by myself and it is not allowed to copy them for any purpose.

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