Read Part I — Moving Abroad!

Read Part II — Arriving in Belgium!

(…) Luckily, in the meantime, I got a message on LinkedIn from the HR manager at TenForce, the mother company of Dacota One. I checked their website and what they could offer me. To be honest, the job ad was describing quite a generic profile. Although I had no clear idea how they found me, I liked the thought of being able to work in almost any technology I want to. The message was really friendly and open, so I gave it a try.

My first interview was on the second week of June. I met with the Business Unit Manager (Julia), the tech lead and one of the developers. I remember that Julia’s first question was “I’m the Semantic Technology Unit Manager. Do you know what that is?” I had no clue of course, never heard of this position. I really liked her next statement: “That’s OK, close to no one gets it right in the first place!”

The interview didn’t feel like an exam at all and that was good, because it didn’t make me nervous. The interviewers were joking around with each other and that put me at ease. I felt like I could easily join them, but I didn’t want to be rude.

They didn’t ask for too much theoretical knowledge in any technology. It was more about how I handle things, how I start on solving problems, what kind of methods I’d use and why. As a Software Engineer at the university, I gained experience in several methodologies and programming languages. I didn’t get a lot of in-depth knowledge, but I am adaptable and a quick learner.

I felt like the interview went well, even though there were questions I couldn’t answer correctly. The most important lesson: during an interview if you don’t know the answer, just tell them so. There is no need to pretend to be someone you are not as this can make you even more nervous. This is what you can offer. If they want it, they will hire you. If they don’t, they won’t. Julia and the team said they would contact me in a week.

That same afternoon I got the rejection letter from a previous interview I told you about here. They wanted someone with more Java knowledge. Although I was disappointed and sad, I was not entirely surprised. I knew the interview didn’t go well and that helped to sort out my feelings. Still, I do not take rejections well.

The next day, on Friday, I got a phone call from TenForce’s HR manager. As after my interview, she just wanted to know how I felt about it. I told her I thought it went well and that I felt really confident all along. I also told her that my plan was to sign up for an intensive Dutch language course in case I would not have a job before August. At that point she said, “There is no need for that.” She got positive feedback about me, so there would be a second interview. This made me extremely happy! We scheduled the second interview with the CEO for the following Monday.

Of course, that day started with a terrible rain. I arrived at TenForce around 9 am, and the CEO was already waiting for me. I told him about my life, what kind of jobs I had before, what I have studied at the university, my hobbies and how I ended up in Belgium. He also asked me about my future plans, how I envision myself, and my objectives. At the end, he told me that if everything goes well with my references, they would make me an offer. It really made my day, and it also made the rain stop!

I had to provide three references to the HR manager. I chose one of my previous bosses, my mentor and one of my colleagues at the university. It seems like everything went well, because in two days, on Wednesday, I got an offer, and the same afternoon I signed the contract. I had only two days to register at the town hall and get all my papers ready, because my first work day was the following Monday!

It’s funny to think back now. So many things happened to me in the past few months. There were ups and downs, good and bad times. I’m proud I was able to do all this. And I’m really thankful to my family and friends, who supported me throughout my journey. So, here I am now, working as a Full Stack Developer at Dacota One for three months already. The hardest part of my job? Trying to teach my colleagues how to pronounce my name correctly.

This article was orignally published on the DacotaOne (TenForce)website.