Welcome to the human world!
In May 2022 our Riga office welcomed three new Aiconauts to Aico’s Support team. Each one of them agreed to shed light on how they felt about the recruitment and onboarding process at Aico. Today, Lolita Rudusane is here to continue the series by sharing her personal experiences.
To be honest, I wasn’t looking for a new job. But then an ex-colleague reached out to inform me about an open position in Aico’s Support Team.
At first, I did not consider applying because I was okay where I was. However, circumstances changed, so I did some research about Aico and its values. I decided to at least have the first interview so I could find out more about the role and company’s culture and see where that could lead me.
So, I sent in my CV and cover letter, and the rest is history.
Did you know? At Aico, we believe that exceptional talent attracts more exceptional talent. When thinking about people you have met and worked with in the past, there will be a few individuals who have made an impact with their skills and unwavering professionalism. When a suitable role opens, we are all ears if an Aiconaut comes forward with a suggestion of a talent they feel would be a fantastic addition to the Aico community. That is why we have established a specific internal recommendation policy on how to: 1) Inform this potential candidate about the open position and share personal experiences about Aico as an employer to see if they are interested. 2) Bring this person to the attention of the hiring team via the internal recommendation pathway. When a recommendation leads to a successful hire, we reward the referrer with a recommendation bonus. |
No hidden rocks to stumble over
The recruitment process was straightforward and transparent – no small print! I got to meet the Human Resources personnel as well as a possible team member. There were two interviews for me. First was a video interview. The second interview was organised at the office where I got to experience the office vibe. It was important for me to see how open it was and observe the overall pressure and stress levels.
I was impressed by Aico’s culture and values. This is a company with a low hierarchy and limited bureaucracy. Here everyone is treated as an equal. Positive team spirit was strong on the company level, not just within each team. Everyone was very welcoming, and their figurative doors were – and are – open for any questions.
During the recruitment process, I was encouraged to reach out to the company’s other employees and even CEO via LinkedIn to get more insight into the company if needed.
Did you know? As Aiconauts are located in four different countries, Teams is a valuable tool and an important way of communicating. Changing jobs is a major consideration for anyone and when making that decision, they are taking a leap of faith. To be as transparent as possible and provide enough information for someone to make an educated decision, we aim to offer the chance to visit the office in person and meet potential local colleagues at some stage of the recruitment process. |
Made to feel welcome before even starting…
Even before my first day, I knew everyone in the company was expecting me and doing prep work to get me settled in. On the first day, I was introduced to my team and my buddy, who helped me to integrate into the company seamlessly.
There were introductions from all employees, team-by-team, as well. I thought it was great because I got to meet everyone and find out who could help me and in what situation.
Training is considered an ongoing activity. We had materials to get us started in various aspects of Aico, like internal HR processes, team-specific areas, product knowledge etc. There were also sessions to learn about Aico’s products through interactive meetings with other colleagues. We were encouraged to ask questions about the product as we went through its functionalities and capabilities.
I only wished the training onboarding programme for a support team member was more intense! Real-life use cases to create or resolve in our training environment would have been great for more hands-on practice. But buddies do an excellent job of showcasing live client cases and how to resolve them.
Did you know? It’s no secret that learning about Aico takes time. When a new Aiconaut joins our community, we start with building relationships, so they feel comfortable asking questions and understand they are not alone. We’ve all been there and remember how overwhelming it got absorbing all that new information in a relatively short period of time. As people learn in various ways, when it comes to the onboarding material, we do our best to accommodate different learning styles. And we don’t stop there – in order to become better and provide new Aiconauts with an awesome onboarding experience, we keep developing our processes and materials based on the feedback received. |
Aico: Where humanity is valued
I do want to mention again that Aico’s values and culture have also met and even exceeded my expectations. I feel like I’m part of the bigger picture and valued as a human. I’m definitely not seen as a robot performing set tasks.
Sometimes it might be difficult to maintain a sense of community when offices are placed in various locations, and some might work remotely. But I think Aico is doing great, and everyone feels a part of a larger community despite their location or setup. Transparency is key here. For example, in Support, we have weekly info meetings where we share our progress and weekly findings or simply ask for help if needed. But that is not all – we also have monthly companywide info meetings, where the same principles apply. And you are always encouraged to ask questions and share feedback for individual and collective growth at any time.
Last but not least…we not only work together, but we have some fun too! We have game nights where we play different card and board games. We have a game console in the office, and you are very welcome to make good use of it! We go out together and play laser tag, solve a quest room, or simply have a nice dinner all together.
Therefore, if you are looking for a workplace where you are valued as an individual and not seen or treated as a robot, but rather as a human being, then I encourage you to join the Aiconauts – a community where everyone matters!
