APPLICATION FAQ

Of course, no risk, no fun! We do have pretty concrete ideas about how a role with us should be filled. But that is exactly the advantage: hardly anyone out there brings everything we need right off the bat. That is why we have set up ourselves and our onboarding so that you can grow into a role.

In principle, your attitude and your potential matter more to us than your specific work experience. But we may of course have to weigh up how much effort it takes to get you ready for the respective role and whether we can currently manage that. So the rule is: feel free to apply first if you're up for it, and then we'll look together at what's possible.

On our careers page you can submit your application very quickly with just a little information. But of course, the more we learn, the higher the chance that we become curious about you.

And it's actually quite simple: feel free to send us anything that helps us get a first picture of who you are and what makes you tick. Above all: why do you want to work with us? What do you want to do? What are you hoping to get from the job and what do you already bring to the table?

We are especially happy when we can tell from a cover letter that you are not just looking for any job in e-commerce, but that you explicitly want to be a Shopmacher, because you find something particularly appealing that you heard or read about us. References and certificates aren't all that exciting to us in the first step. First we want to learn something about you as a person, we want to get a sense of whether we can make you happy. And whether you can make us happy.

Like a blind date: anything goes, nothing has to. We don't have a fixed template for a first meeting. We decide fairly spontaneously who talks with you. Usually it is a combination of Janine, our recruiter, and someone from the relevant field matching the role. That could be the respective "Head Of", but sometimes also one of our team members. We simply look at what interests us about you and who would be exciting people for you to talk to. There is also no one in the conversation who pleads or judges. We have a conversation as equals, tell each other about ourselves, get to know each other and see whether there's a spark.

A little tip if you want to prepare: rather think about which questions you have for us, what your wishes are and what drives you, than about which answers you could give us. Just like a blind date.

And of course there is no dress code and no recommendation. Except maybe this one: dress authentically, just as you are.

If after a first meeting both sides feel this could turn into something with us, then we arrange a trial day, where we get to know each other more closely.

For you, it is mainly about experiencing the team and our working atmosphere on any given workday and developing a feel for whether you want to get things moving in this environment every day. For us, it is about experiencing you a bit longer and in a somewhat more relaxed setting than at a blind date.

On the trial day, the first thing in the morning is sitting right in the middle of the team breakfast, experiencing our team dynamic in a completely authentic way. Then we show you our campus office, introduce the teams, and then you get a few tasks that are typical for the job we are currently talking about. That way you get a feel for the tasks that actually come up with us, and we get a feel for how you approach such tasks. The whole thing lasts until about the afternoon. If that isn't feasible for you, we'll find an individual solution.

At the end, we briefly discuss our shared impressions of the day and then part ways for now. As a rule, within a few days we will then tell you whether and in which role we would like to bring you onto the team.

Only once we both know that we would like to give it a try together do we draw up a contract. We have deliberately worded our employment contract so that you can directly understand what it says, even as a layperson and without much work experience, without having to ask a lawyer.

We offer a lot of room to individually shape your working and vacation hours. And you can adjust it anew every year to fit your life situation. But so that it stays comparable and fair, we always discuss our contracts and salaries on the basis of 40 hours of work per week and 26 days of annual vacation. If you then have different ideas, we make a short contract amendment and adjust the salary accordingly.

Your weekly working hours can be shifted in 4-hour increments in both directions (the range currently spans from 12 to 40 weekly hours; many have 36 weekly hours and therefore Fridays off). Your annual vacation can vary between 20 and 32 days. As mentioned: always with a corresponding salary adjustment, and you can recalibrate it every year for the next 12 months.

Your salary with us is negotiated individually. It varies with your experience and the responsibility that will come with it once you are fully on board. How high our onboarding effort will be until you can fill the intended role fully independently also plays a role.

And we do have salary bands for different roles, tied to the respective SkillScore. Adhering to them is important to us so that things are fair for everyone.

We are also into ambitious career changers and have established our own methods and processes, which are only comparable to those of other agencies to a limited extent. That is why structured onboarding is very important to us.

Your onboarding plan guides you in a structured way through your first months as a Shopmacher. There are sessions that are the same for everyone. For example "the SHOPMACHER Story" with André or "time tracking in Jira", which we have already put into your calendar for you. After that, some individual sessions follow, matched to your role. Here you are given the respective contacts and get to arrange the appointments yourself. Because the topics are relevant to everyone at different times.

At the start, depending on your experience, quickness to grasp things and project situation, you begin in a team where you are integrated into the team routines of the Scrum teams. Here you can first tag along without pressure for 4-8 weeks. There you quickly get to know clients, technologies, processes and teams in real life. And you can actively contribute from day 1 if you want to.

For the initial period you are assigned a mentor who is not on your team. Simply so that you have someone at your side outside your own team. Together you do regular catch-ups. These are really only about you, and you can shape the session however feels right for you at the time.

Toward the end of your probation period, you carry out your skill evaluation together with your Team Coach and the respective Head Of (we currently have the SkillScore for Project Managers and developers). The skill evaluation is ultimately also the launch pad for your development reviews, in which we discuss your development potential and perspectives with you once a year. Done this way, it is actually quite simple: wherever your skills still have room to grow, we think together about what needs to be done so that you make progress; and we cook up a plan for how you can tackle it. Anew every year.

Your first development review we will hold exactly one year after the end of your probation period. Until then, you carry out regular catch-ups with your mentor and your team's Team Coach at increasingly longer intervals. Weekly at the start, later perhaps quarterly. But that varies with the individual need to talk and, of course, your growing experience.

During your probation period, meaning the first 6 months, there is definitely a "Pit Stop" planned after about 3 months and the ceremonial handover of a gift at the end of the probation period. And then it pretty much runs by itself ...

• Public transport: Are you traveling by public transport? The bus stop "Ehemaliger Bahnhof" in Gescher is only 250 meters from our office.

• Bicycle: Probably the nicest option (if the weather cooperates). In front of our office you will find numerous bike racks you can use.

• Car: If you travel by car, the best option is to use the parking spaces to the left of our building.

Feel free to reach out to Janine by email at bewerben@shopmacher.de or simply call us at 02542/87030.