Interested in a career in a Tech Startup? For Career Insider, Joblift asks professionals across markets and functions their best tips to help you land your dream job. This time we interviewed Miro Morczinek, CEO of X24Factory GmbH, a Berlin-based online-furniture portal.
What’s the most important thing your company is working on right now?
Our main focus right now is on product development. We’re creating new unique features to provide our users with a better furniture shopping experience.
Does the company have any plans to break into new markets?
While we are currently concentrating on the two markets we’re already in, we will continue to grow and proceed to expand into more markets soon.
Which companies are your biggest competitors and how do you think your company stacks up against them?
We are offering a unique approach for our users to find, filter, and compare furniture products worldwide. We think that this will replace the current entry path of users starting their furniture search on Google, eBay, or Amazon. This results in a very generic and cumbersome furniture shopping experience that we want to eliminate.
Describe your top tips and things to avoid during the recruitment process at Moebel24?
It’s always important to communicate in a timely matter and not waiting too long to respond to emails or canceling an interview on short notice. We also think it’s important to hear your ideas about how you plan to move Moebel24 forward, instead of only describing what the company can you do you.
What does the recruitment process at Moebel24 look like from start to finish?
Initially, we have a preliminary HR interview by phone or on Skype. If this is successful, the candidate will proceed to the next round with formal interviews with various colleagues of their respective departments. For senior hires, we involve our managing directors. And, in a lot of cases, we’ll ask prospective employees to prepare a small sample of their work or complete a task to discuss in a final feedback round.
What are the most important qualities in a successful candidate at Moebel24?
Being self-driven, able to multitask and manage their time well, in addition to being self-organized and possessing strong communication skills in English, as well as in German.
How do you develop talent and what steps do you take to grow that talent?
We immediately expose our young talent to a variety of tasks and responsibilities and foster this growth with side-by-side cooperation with senior staff members of their team. In certain areas we encourage our staff to enroll in online classes or tutorials.
What are common characteristics of employees that succeed in your company?
Our successful employees are able to quickly deliver and drive results independently, while taking strong ownership over their projects.
What does the onboarding process at your company look like?
Our new employees will be going through multiple side-by-side sessions with colleagues from different departments who explain the variety of aspects for each given area.
How would you describe your office culture, and how do you ensure your employees identify with it?
Our office is founded on an entrepreneurial spirit and is very playful and communicative. Everyone pitches in here and helps everyone else, even down to cleaning the kitchen. Most importantly, we are all guided by a shared set of general rules and standards.
What kinds of company outings do you have?
We focus on activities like bowling, beach volleyball, and escape hunts, but also have the usual dinner and drinks with colleagues.
What do you like most about working at Moebel24?
We love our colleagues and the team atmosphere in the office. We also like the level of responsibility we have attached to our positions in the company.
Why did you start working here, and what has kept you here?
We’re excited about online furniture shopping and elements of interior design. There’s also the opportunity for rapid growth in learning the ins-and-outs of the company, while having ownership of our tasks and achieving success in their completion.
What opportunities for growth are there, and how have you seen your role in the company change during your time here?
A lot of our colleagues have expanded their responsibilities, or even changed the focus of their roles after being in the company for less than one year. It all depends on each employee’s personal interest and priorities for the company.
What is the best benefit you offer employees at your company?
We believe our people are the best benefit we have to offer! We’re a kind and caring group of individuals that are always here to help and lend a helping hand.
How do you assess performance and what kind of feedback can employees expect to receive on a weekly/monthly basis?
Our company sets both quarterly and annual goals. These apply to the company as a whole, separate departments, and individual colleague assessments.
What do you like about living and working in Berlin?
What can we say about Berlin that hasn’t already been said? It’s a truly international city with a young and vibrant community of accepting individuals. It’s a cultural hotspot with some of the best nightlife anywhere in the world!
What is the startup community like in Berlin?
There’s an ‘everything goes’ type of attitude here. As long as you’ve got your business plan and a vision for achieving it, anything is possible here. It’s really easy to meet interesting and like minded people who are always giving you that extra push towards your goals.
What are the benefits of being located in Berlin compared to other major European cities?
First of all, you can definitely get by without speaking German here. It helps, but is far from necessary. Secondly, most things are cheap here! It’s not hard to grab lunch for less than €5 and your monthly rent for an apartment will only get you a fraction of what it would in any other major European city.
Interested in a startup career?