Sandra is one of the few people that built Applover from the ground up. She works at Applover for over 4 years now! She started in the Sales Department as a Lead Generation Specialist, and now she is a Head of Administration at Applover. That is how your career path can look at our company. We always try to match the career path to the talents and predispositions of a person. We support, encourage to develop, and grow everyone, no matter if you are a developer, a lead generation specialist, or a designer. If you are satisfied with your job position and tasks ahead of you, we will do everything we can to help you achieve your goals. So let’s meet Sandra and see what her Applover Path looked like! 

How did you get a job at Applover?

I had an interview with Jan, a Co-founder & Head of Sales. It took about an hour, it was really casual which surprised me. A few days after the interview, Jan passed the good news that they want to hire me.

There are many various companies in Wrocław, why did you choose Applover?

My friend posted a job offer to an internal group of activists from the university, previously I worked with hardware and thought that software is the future and I would like to try it. I wanted it to be a small company because I got alienated from corporations. At that time, I still had in mind that I would become a programmer but as you can see my career took a different direction. 

Was there open recruitment back then?

Back then, recruitment was more based on the recommendations. There was no HR department or processes. Michał (PM at the time) connected me and Jan on Facebook. On the same day, I had a job interview, as I mentioned, it lasted about an hour. I remember that day I also met Radek, who was then the CEO. I thought they were great guys and I would love to work with them. Jan returned to me with the information that I was admitted somehow after 3 days. A week later, I was already working at Applover in the Sales team.

Nowadays the recruitment process is much more professional and this shows how the company has developed! 

You started from lead generation and transferred to administration. How did it happen, and what were the reasons behind this shift?

Honestly, the transition came out very naturally and smoothly. I quickly became part of the organizational culture and took over some Office Manager duties (at that time even none of us even thought of these tasks as OM duties). When I joined the team, the structure was very flat, most of the administrative duties rested on the Management Board and the company began to develop a lot. In the beginning, I was not working full-time and I had the opportunity to increase the number of hours I worked. Somehow by trying to relieve the Management Board and support them more in the administrative tasks, I decreased the number of Lead Generations tasks and I became an Assistant to the Management Board. I also eventually left the Sales team. I think the Board just saw what I was doing, that I was performing well, and allowed me to develop in this area. I was slowly taking over more and more of these responsibilities, thus also acquiring knowledge about the company and its functioning in terms of the so-called paperwork. In the meantime, I trained and worked very closely with the Management Board, the company grew from 15 people to 70, and then the Management proposed a change from an Assistant to an Administration Manager. We currently employ +100 people and I grew from being a part-time Lead Generation Specialist to managing soon a 4-person team as a Head of Administration.

post testimonial icon quote

When I first saw Sandra it was during our recruitment meeting, I was looking for an extension to my sales department. I immediately knew she will be a perfect fit for our organization and culture. Open-minded, motivated and meticulous. It took her about a year to become one of the most trusted employees at Applover. I think we kind of grew together. Applover with structure and people, Sandra with focus and dedication.

post testimonial author

Jan Kamiński

Co-Founder & Head of Sales

What does your day-to-day work look like today?

My work is divided into fixed elements per month, while daily tasks can be really different. Permanent items are the settlement of the month and the payout. This is usually done from the 30th to the 9th of every month. Besides, I usually start my day by checking my email and Slack. I set priorities, replies to messages. Usually, I also have several phone calls with the Accounting. I sign documents. In fact, every day is different. Sometimes I spend it on calls with Accountants, Management, Employees, or the law firm cooperating with us, and sometimes I am completely absorbed by paperwork, which I cannot describe in detail due to confidentiality. 😉 

Every Monday I meet with my team to plan the work for the whole week. On Fridays, we discuss what we have managed to do and sum up the week. Every month we have 1:1 meetings to verify our professional goals, discuss activities aimed at supporting them – one of the team members has a private goal to read more books, so 5 minutes of this meeting are devoted to book recommendations, including non-professional ones.

What tools do you use at your work? Do you have any favorites or the ones you cannot imagine your job?

GSuite and Slack are my best work friend! There is no day of my work without Google Documents and I really appreciate how it is organized, intuitive, and just helpful at performing my duties. 

What is best for you in the role of a Head of Administration? 

I have contact with all the people in the company, I also cooperate very closely with the Management Board. But when I am fed up with people I can bury myself in papers. The diversity of my tasks is what I like the most. Moreover, I know that I have a real impact on the whole organization. Just recently, we changed the tool that allows everyone to ask for a day off. The previous solution didn’t meet our needs and was complicated for people to use. I found a better tool that I successfully implemented for the whole organization, and now requesting or accepting the days off, as well as checking the availability of taking the days off is just easier for the whole Applover team.

Edu sessions, time for self-development, educational fund – is it something you value or take advantage of at Applover?

Definitely! The budget for the books and the funding for learning English allowed me to develop my language skills. In addition, whenever I feel the need, I receive financial support for training.

Overall, it seems to me that the Management’s approach is a big support, not only financial. The boys (yes, we call that our Board ;)) support me very much in my willingness to improve and develop and encourage me to do so.

What, in your opinion, did change the most since you started working at Applover?

When I started, there were 15 of us in one open space. Applover today is over 100 people and a completely different reality. In fact, from the office (we now have 4 more floors) through structures and processes. It doesn’t just change that we’re still a group of friends and we want to do great things.

Any plans or challenges that you await in the nearest future?

The biggest challenge this year will be the formal transformations of the limited liability company in the S.A. company and entering the stock exchange. All processes must be perfectly selected and tasks planned with great care so that we can meet the assumed timeframe. There is no question of delays or postponing deadlines. I believe that it will be not only the biggest challenge in 2022 but also throughout my professional career.

Can you share your 5 favorite knowledge sources or books, podcasts that inspired you the most or helped you somehow at your job?

My best knowledge sources are:

Do you have any advice for people who want to start their career in the IT industry in nontechnical positions?

post testimonial icon quote

Don't be afraid to apply! Technological basics can be learned. I remember when I had the first coffee breaks with the team, the only thing I could say was “Aha, aha, how will it be in Polish?”. After 4 years I already know that the answer is usually “It's probably the backend's fault”. Unless you are talking to the backend team 😉

post testimonial author

Sandra Skutecka

Head of Administration

Become the part of our Administration team!

If you’re looking for a place where you’d like to grow in an administration office, keep checking Applover’s Careers Page! We start new recruitments regularly due to the company’s growth. We might need someone like you right now.