The first few days at a new job are always exciting. A good start and successful onboarding are extremely relevant for every new employee. Juniors, in particular, need guidance and support to be able to work independently and with confidence. At SinnerSchrader, we are constantly trying to improve our onboarding and integration of new team members. Josefine joined SinnerSchrader as a Junior Product Engineer a few months ago and I sat down with her so she could share her perspective.

Tell me about yourself. What’s your background?

I’m Josefine, 29 years old and since December 2019 I am a Junior Product Engineer at SinnerSchrader in Hamburg. I got my first job as a developer after participating in an intensive, hands-on ’bootcamp’ for web development. Before that, I worked in marketing, so I literally had no idea what to expect from my new role.

That sounds exciting and like a lot of change. What surprised you when you started working in your new role?

Getting into Product Engineering by taking detours is by far not as unusual as I first thought - it’s basically part of the job to continuously keep learning. That was also one of the most important findings of my first weeks: No one expects you to be able to do or know everything, whether you are a junior or have been developing for years. Asking around or Googling is not only tolerated - it’s almost a prerequisite. Furthermore, I was surprised how much we collaborate in teams and discuss in meetings: the work processes are very democratic and it took a couple of weeks to realise what the buzzword ‘agile development’ really means and how much each of us can contribute.

Can you tell us a little bit about what your first few weeks as a Junior Product Engineer looked like?

In the first couple of weeks, there was a lot of new input: As part of my onboarding, I got to know different development teams and for every aspect of agency life, from making coffee to booking hours, there was a dedicated appointment to fill me in. Since the official onboarding is completed, my daily routines are defined by sprints: in regular appointments, we present the client our work, define and distribute new tasks and try to figure out even better technical solutions. We pair a lot and through a review process, everybody gets frequent feedback on their work.

What helped you settle in when you first joined the team?

The fact that everything about working at SinnerSchrader is rather easy-going and doesn’t follow the typical agency hype made being new a lot easier. Generally, people are very welcoming and open, both at the coffee maker and in one of the many ‘skillgroups’ - not only during the hand lettering workshop, hierarchies are besides the point. Whoever has something to share, is highly encouraged to do so.

What advice would you give a job seeker who’s thinking about applying for a Product Engineering job with SinnerSchrader?

Every studio, every team and every task is different and of course both my first impression as well as my journey at SinnerSchrader only reflect my personal experience. That’s why I would try to get in touch with the team to talk to somebody besides HR during the application process. Of course, I am happy to answer your questions regarding working at SinnerSchrader!