"The work of a team leader requires conscious heroism and complete dedication"

Surely, looking back to those days, I understand that most of the things we did at that time were not that unique, but when you are a young developer and have just entered the industry, working on such a project is a great success. Even if you are engaged in projects that do not bring significant benefits, still they give you a lot of experience. And, of course, there is always an opportunity to mess things up in such projects, and that also develops you greatly as a professional :)

This physical metric was very motivating because I could see the direct result of my work: the more features and improvements I made in the project, the more money the company received. Due to this opportunity to feel a direct impact on the business I prefer small companies. As a rule, the results of your work are not so noticeable in large companies.

So, returning to my career path, I would like to note that already while working at a startup that "successfully" lost tenders, I was thinking about moving. Therefore, having got quite good experience in Russian companies, I decided to look to the European labour market. There was no specific country I would like to move to, so my wife and I were open to any options. Having looked through the vacancies a little, I got several offers from European companies.

There were offers both in the UK and Ireland, but eventually, I accepted the offer from a German agency and moved to Hamburg.

This was the first and last time in my life when I was fired. To say that this was huge stress is to say nothing: my wife and I were in a foreign country, we lived in a rented apartment, and I was sure that I would definitely stay in this company :) In terms of emotions and sensations, it was an "explosion", but at the same time it turned out to be an explosion of productivity and drive.

Now I understand that there was nothing to worry about. Still, I was a demanded IT specialist, I had my visa and knowledge. And, as it turned out, later, it was not difficult to find another job. Within two weeks I went to a new company.

The company I got a job in was a small startup, but it was under the aegis of a large company, Zalando, and that was the most pleasant thing: you work in a small, friendly team, you get goodies from working with a small team, and at the same time you understand that within arm's reach you have a company with a lot of resources, infrastructure, cool processes, support.

I know that the ability to master new technologies quickly and after a short time be completely immersed in the product is the quality they appreciate in the market. A valuable employee is the one with whom you make ready-made products within a month. This was just my case: at that time I was already officially engaged in the big data sector, and within a month I was making full-fledged IT products.

Thanks to my work in the company, I have learned a lot. Gradually, the team that was engaged in what today we call "data engineering" appeared in the company, and without realizing it, I became a Data engineer, and then grew up to a Senior-level specialist and as a result came to the area in which I am now in.

The new director, let's say, made a real mess of things, and half of the team decided to leave the company. I was among those. At that time, I realized even more deeply that the managers you work with play a very important role. Also, as I have already said, I had some sort of career and salary advancement agreements and my new director did not agree to them.

At that time, I was upset that the company did not satisfy my needs, but today I understand that I am not working for a specific company, I am working for the market.

Besides, when the company goes through difficult times, the team becomes less motivated, the atmosphere becomes more disturbing and tough. During such periods, it is important for a leader to maintain the team morale, and to be able to "drag" it through these hard times. The work of a team leader requires conscious heroism and complete dedication.

For example, for a year and a half, I have been in a leadership position, I have a team, and my task is to keep the spark in the eyes of these specialists. The pandemic period was not easy for us, given the fact that we work in the transport sector. My task is to keep a positive atmosphere in my team when you yourself know that it may never be better, and there is a high risk that things will only get worse. There is now a complete lockdown in Germany, and no transport systems are working.

— It is hard to speak in a subjunctive mood. But according to my experience, I can say that on the rare occasions when I see that recruiters have taken the time to study my CV, I will consider their offer for me. In cases where I see that recruiters did not spend time studying my experience, I will most likely ignore the offer.

On the other hand, I understand that if the thought of considering an offer has arisen in my head, most likely on some subconscious level I have already made a decision to leave, and there is no point in fighting this.

Having serious experience, you no longer want to be just a "cog" in a complex machine, you want to be the machine itself. The area of responsibility and the impact on processes that the company can offer me is perhaps the main reason why I decided to consider this particular proposal.

— Having lived in Europe, I have come to the conclusion that politeness is a too universal language. Being polite to people all your life, you will never find yourself in a difficult situation in terms of communication. It's nice to expand the boundaries sometimes, to communicate more informally. When you can communicate with a person outside the accepted framework, it turns out to be quite effective and productive communication. You can compare an interview with a recruiter with a date: if I feel that a recruiter wrote the same thing to a million other candidates, I quickly lose my interest :)

— No. Rather, on the contrary, I do not understand people who come to work for a position, for example, team leaders who start talking about their rich experience, refuse to fulfil the test task, emphasizing the fact that many other companies offer work without any test task. As for me, I won't feel happy to work with such a person. Besides, a test task helps to understand more how a person thinks, rather than how he/she solves some problems.

Besides, a test task doesn't need to be some kind of problem. An essay is also ok :) The main thing is as follows: it should not be a formal reply like it happens in a cover letter, but something sincere, "from the bottom of my heart". Germany, by the way, is very "sick" with different formalities. Even the size of your photo in a CV means here.