Six months into my new job: What is like to be a TalentLyfter

Accepting the offer

So today is exactly six months since I became a TalentLyfter (a TalentLyft employee). Six months ago I returned back to Croatia after 8 years of living, studying and working in the United States.

Even though the decision wasn’t that easy to make, I haven’t regretted it…at least not yet. 😊

Coming from a corporate environment, I have to admit, I was a little bit scared about switching to a startup that, 6 months ago, had 4 full time employees.

Why was I scared?

Besides all the comments family and friends were making about start-ups, career stability and job security, Mario, the boss (still hates when I call him like that 😊), gave his best to openly explain what did it mean to work for a start-up.

The word he kept using to describe the situation in his start-up was “chaotic”! It almost felt like he was trying to scare me, and have me reject the offer.

I took the chance, and accepted the offer.

As a former athlete, I like challenges, and “challenging” is the word I like to use to describe my job.

It really is challenging…but I love it, and here is why!

While my last blog post, about my first month at TalentLyft, was about the team, environment and culture, this one is all about me.

I learned…a lot

Not to underestimate school and corporate jobs, but the amount of practical skills I gained in just 6 months of work in TalentLyft is enormous. I had a lot of knowledge, and in theory I could talk about almost every aspect of business.

However, before TalentLyft, I rarely had the chance to fully use that knowledge.

Take for example, digital marketing. I had numerous certifications, diplomas, read books, classes and courses…

At the same time, as a Director of Marketing in a corporate setting, I had the whole team of people who were doing the job FOR me. I almost felt like I knew everything, but wasn't sure if I knew how to apply any of that knowledge.

I have accomplished a lot

TalentLyft and my new job really enabled me to put everything I knew into practice. Tracking the progress of what our website does on Google is just amazing. And the big portion of this is the product of my own work!

Here is a hard number…

Only three months ago, we launched a brand new website. Today, we rank for more than 4200 keywords on Google. Some digital marketing experts said this was impossible! 💪

Knowing that I played a big role in making this happen makes me really happy.

The company holds the name I picked

To some, this may seem like a little thing, but to me it means a lot. Few months back, we went through a complete rebranding. Today, the company holds the name that I came up with.

How cool is that? 😎

My opinion is valuable

In a corporate setting, it is very hard to stand out from the crowd. Here, at TalentLyft, my opinion and insights are important. Even though some may see responsibility as a negative thing, I believe that ambitious people understand that important job roles hold a lot of responsibility.

Here at TalentLyft, we often talk about Employee Value Proposition, and about which values attract potential job candidates.

If your goal, as an employer, is to attract ambitious workforce, give them responsibility and explain exactly how their work aligns with the business success.

I do more than Marketing

Even though I never though this would happen, I just got into product development as well. All the knowledge I gained in the past 6 months, the boss says, makes me the perfect fit for that role.

Getting the chance to participate in this part of the business is priceless. Working on the product, its updates and improvements, is so much fun.

I get to help people and companies

Because of all the activities and events we do, people from the outside have also recognized my knowledge and experience. I get emails and questions about best practices and advices on a daily basis.

One of my favorite things to do in life is sharing knowledge. Getting the chance to share my knowledge with individuals and companies, give advices, hold webinars, participate as a guest speaker at universities are things I enjoy doing so much. None of this would be possible without TalentLyft.

This is a picture from our HR meetup where I held a presentation in front of more than 150 people.

I feel like one of the owners

From time to time, Mario, the boss, says: “You will soon want to make something on your own, start a business, and leave”. And maybe I would if I was in a big firm, completing the same daily tasks over and over again. But like this, I really feel like the part of TalentLyft is mine!

When I just came to TalentLyft, there were 3 owners and myself. I felt like I was treated the same way they treated each other. In addition, I could clearly see how my work was contributing to the business success.

I have a new family

I know I said I wasn’t going to talk about the team, but let me just say one thing. Besides them all being friendly, fun, respective, helpful…there is something else that makes us special.

We set our own work goals all the time…ambitious goals. I think that teams that care this much about the success of business, and see this success as their personal success, are extremely rare.

You who do have teams like this, treasure them as much as possible. Recognize and appreciate what you have, because there is nothing more valuable than that.

I believe in TalentLyft’s bright future

It is hard to go to job every day if you don’t see the point of it…besides your salary, of course. Believing in the power of what TalentLyft brings to companies and communities, makes going to work fun and interesting.

We have so much plans with TalentLyft in 2018. I admit, these plans are ambitious, but I am convinced that, with our amazing team of TalentLyfters, we are more than likely to become a leading recruiting software in the world. No exaggeration!

Honestly, I never thought I would get the chance to be the part of something this big.

So thank you TalentLyft! 💓