"From Moscow to Böblingen:
Leonid's path to his desired career at Compart."
Leonid, Product Owner
Some years ago you moved from Moscow to Böblingen, to start your career at Compart. What motivated you to do this?
Opportunities and possibilities, to live and to grow, for us and for our kids. In short, it’s about that. My wife and I, we grew up outliving Soviet Union, and we had the desire for a change toward a more open world. I had been thinking about what it would be like to live and work in another country for a while, when one day a former work colleague & friend called me. He told me that he had moved to Germany and started a new job as a developer at Compart. His enthusiasm about Compart and his new everyday life in Germany immediately infected me and made me realize that Germany could also be a real opportunity for me and my family. And when I heard about a vacancy for a software developer at Compart, I didn't hesitate and applied.
"For me, working at Compart was an obvious first choice. On top of that, I was able to spend two days in Böblingen to meet my future colleagues prior to joining, as a part of the interviewing process, which helped to get an idea of how that would look like."
How did you experience your first months here?
Böblingen as a small town with short distances and its proximity to beautiful nature was very attractive for us as a family. We were very lucky to land here in a very friendly and welcoming environment. The welcome at Compart was so heartfelt from the supervisors, colleagues and team, that it was easy for us to feel at home. Compart had offered to help us find accommodation, but we found something so easily that in the end we didn't even have to make use of it. So it was more about sorting out the daily life: getting to know the town, playgrounds, getting our older kid settled in the school, learning the language basics and so on. Quite intense time, we thought then, and it probably was.
After moving to Germany, you learned German in a very short time. How did you manage that so quickly?
After the first interview with Compart, I started learning German straight away. But I certainly have to learn a lot still. Compart organizes and offers language courses for all employees for free and I benefited from them. Add to that my colleagues were ready to help and occasionally to wait while I am looking for a particular word, sometimes right in a middle of a sentence. Being in meetings, engaging in small-talk, peering over dictionaries and trying to figure out examples and relevant context—everything that helps.
"The language courses offered by Compart helped me a lot in the beginning, and I was able to actually start using German in the everyday office life after about two or three years. But the key for me here is to keep challenging myself and to find support around."
Why did you choose Compart?
Compart develops and delivers products covering quite a number of technologies, while being modestly sized. That is a good way to learn a lot, to make things that really matter, and to have a possibility to dive deep into details of a technology while still having grips on reality. For me personally, my new job at Compart was a great possibility to adjust my career path, to get a bit closer to software development for some time once again. Working at Compart provided a perfect opportunity to do exactly that and to take the next step for my expert career, which at Compart has the same value like a management position. The interview process was also so good and smooth - that helped additionally.
You have been with Compart for almost 10 years now. What makes your work at Compart exciting and challenging even after all that years?
Compart moves on, it does not stay at the same place at all. Looking back at where it was when I started, it was a totally different part of Compart’s portfolio, compared to what our team is doing currently, which wasn’t there at all at that time. And that is just a part of a new foundation the company is offering today, not just a singular new piece that emerged since then. For me personally, there was another aspect that changed significantly: my focus shifted from being a software developer within a team with an established process, to becoming a product owner. Of course, such role change brings new challenges, but it is also a great opportunity to be more involved in making better products, to get together with people developing them and people using them, to feel we can inspire ourselves and design and develop something new in a better, more effective way.
What kind of support do you get to develop yourself professionally and personally?
Compart offers a variety of training opportunities, such as soft skills training at the Compart Academy. The training courses on intercultural competence or presentation and public speaking were very valuable for me. The setting is also great, you get to know the other employees in a completely different environment, have space to try things out and can develop together. That's fun! When my colleague and I organized a transformation of our internal development process a few years ago, we were able to benefit greatly from our mutual experience. During the transformation phase, we were able to incorporate our knowledge into the project and at the same time received valuable feedback and support from our other colleagues. That really helped us move forward. And in general people around me are eager to help, taking part in growing, lending an ear if they are not involved directly, sharing their expertise and their experience, organizing trainings and learning activities. This is a very important foundation for any kind of development. But what I also really appreciate is that Compart also gives me the opportunity to share my knowledge with others and not just be on the receiving end of training - that is also part of my personal and professional development. Growing with the help of people around and together with them is a much more effective and rewarding process. Winning together is more fun than just winning.
"New ideas, new requirements, and new customers – all that drives the change from the outside, while we are doing a similar thing from the inside with new technologies, new ideas, and new methods."
How do you experience the team culture at Compart?
What I am experiencing, is a great deal of flexibility. We work together and make the best of each others strengths. When a colleague of ours once had a major technical problem with another platform and we were 2 months behind schedule as a result, we didn't hesitate for a second and helped out as a matter of course. We took joint responsibility for the overall result and were successful in the end and still achieved our goal. Compart has a team culture that is characterized by mutual respect. I am impressed by the fact that there are no struggles for power in the various teams and team constellations. I like my team and always look forward to our team lunch or ordering pizza together.
How can you contribute your ideas to Compart?
Oh, just get people engaged — and there are many ways to do that. Vertically, the chain of command is not that long. Horizontally, almost every one of us know each other. If an idea is interesting, it may get a shot at — within a team or on a wider scale, if necessary. There are semi-formal groups where we can share our experience, there are key decision-makers who are ready to listen and to help, there is, after all, a coffee corner. And if one wants to champion a reasonable idea, there is always time and place to do that.
"People make teams, but we stay people, adjusting to each other’s dynamics and traits. We work together, finding good ways to do that and adapting to make the best of each others strengths."
Leonid, born 1979
Software developer at Compart since 2015
In 2002, Leonid graduated from Bauman Moscow State Technical University as an engineer in applied mathematics. Already during his studies he started his career as a software developer in his home country Russia. During his further professional career as a software developer, Leonid was able to gain valuable experience across various industries. In 2015, his path then led him to Compart - to his new chosen home: Germany. Here he got to know German & Compart's products within a very short time. Today, Leonid enriches the Compart team and incorporates his ideas into our products as a software developer and product owner.
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