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Celonaut Spotlight: Berat Percuku, Software Engineer, Pristina
What makes working in the Engineering Department at Celonis such a unique experience?
For me working in the Engineering Department is a unique experience because every day we face new challenges. Dealing with challenges constantly enables me to learn, and this presents a great opportunity for professional growth. An environment that fosters employee’s professional growth is a mantra of Celonis, and this is what makes this place unique. Also having employee professional growth and excellence in mind is a characteristic that makes working in this department, and Celonis in general, as one can very rarely find this opportunity in other workplaces.
What makes you proud?
I am truly proud of being part of Celonis because of the unparalleled product we offer to our customers. Being part of a team that supports the vision behind the product is another aspect that makes me proud. Moreover, working with the latest technologies on revolutionary tech concepts gives a whole new meaning to the input I provide as I feel like I partake in something which shifts the paradigm on how businesses run their processes. In other words, it makes me feel as I am not simply a link of an assembly; on the contrary, I am able to really witness the results of my input: how my contribution actually makes a difference in how companies run their processes more efficiently – in turn, waste less time and harness more quality products and services for their customers.
Moreover, as an engineer, working with the latest technologies and living with the best industry practices that we implement, is another reason why I feel proud about my job. Another cool thing is our hybrid tech-stack; we use angular and sometimes react for the frontend, while for backend we mainly use Spring Boot, even though we have a lot of services on nodejs. As first choice database we use postgres and of course our solutions support all relational databases.
Which advice would you give to less experienced talents who are just starting their career?
To all talents who are just starting their career, I advise them to stick to a company where they can learn and develop themselves. At Celonis we are building advanced products and services for our customers, so it is the right place for anyone looking to build his/her career. Taking advantage of such approach is priceless because new talents must be provided with the space to learn hands-on, be that through conversing with their colleagues about different aspects of their job, or just observing the processes going on. It is really important to try and absorb everything that goes on in the workplace because the initial lessons one learns at the beginning of his/her career serves as the foundation for the future. What I mean is that, in the beginning, it is important to concentrate on breadth, rather than depth: Not focus too much on one thing only; rather, try to see and learn as many things as possible the job offers. I have found this approach to be very enriching and interesting, especially for later.
Which key qualifications should applicants have to join your department?
At Celonis, we always try to hire the best of the best talents. That may sound as a mission impossible for undergraduates and graduates, but that’s not the case. A typical applicant should have solid knowledge on algorithms and data structures as well as object oriented programming, things that we all learned at university. An applicant should also have the perseverance and motivation to go work hard and move forward. As I previously mentioned, this job presents a number of challenges, especially for new applicants, as it works with a product which is rather new, especially in Kosovo. Therefore, it may take some time and effort to have a clear understanding and insight on how to navigate it, and that is why it is important to persevere, learn, and go forward.
How does a typical day at Celonis look like for you?
When in the office, I start my day with a small snack, coffee, and a small chat with my teammates – the necessary fuel to start my day before having a daily team meeting at 10:00 where we update each other on status of tasks and if there are any blockers. When at home, I also start my day with a snack and a coffee, but not much chat with the teammates, and this is what I miss the most during this pandemic: being in the same physical environment with the colleagues. That aside, before daily meetings I sometimes also use my time to finish any unfinished work from last day, checking e-mails or narrowing down any issues that need to be addressed during the meeting. After the daily meeting, we go on with our own tasks, and this is how our day goes on. There are also different regular meetings about technology, products, demo sessions and overall company updates, where all the team members are involved. Those meetings are good opportunity because all of us get updated with the latest products and news of the company. Moreover, it is also a chance to get together, spend some time and discuss on the matters of the workplace. This is more or less how my day in Celonis looks: a combination between a lot of independent work and also a lot of co-operation, as it is important to keep each other on the loop about what goes on.
Describe your team at Celonis in three words.
Motivated. Talented. Forward-thinking.
Which of the Celonis values matters most to you and why?
All Celonis Values (see here) are equally important and one without other doesn’t work. However, I can distinguish one of them, and that is “Live for Customer,” because all what we are doing at the end of day is simply building and perfecting a product which makes their work more efficient and effective; in turn, providing them with more return for their investment, be that time, money, or people. This reminds us that we must look at our work from the perspective of our customer, and how our contribution benefits its end. This helps us think creatively and critically about our approach to work, and broadens our horizon. Therefore, with this value benefits not only our customer, which is the direct beneficiary, but also us, as it strengthens our skills and makes us grow as better professionals.
Berat joined Celonis almost a year ago. With a major in Computer Science and an affinity for Mathematics, and previous working experience in various engineering roles, Celonis is now the place to be for him.
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