Applicant FAQ

You can submit your application to us very quickly with very little information on our careers page. But of course, if we learn a little more, it increases the chance that we will be curious about you.

And it’s actually quite simple: feel free to send us anything that helps us gain an initial picture of who you are, what makes you tick. But above all: Why do you want to work with us? What do you want to do? What do you hope to get out of the job and what do you already bring to the table?

We are especially pleased when we can tell from a cover letter that you are not just looking for a job in e-commerce, but that you explicitly want to be a Shopmacher because you find something you have heard or read about us particularly appealing. We don’t find testimonials and certificates that exciting in the first step. We first want to learn about you as a person, we want to get an impression if we can make you happy. And whether you can make us happy.

Like a blind date: everything can, nothing must. We do not have a fixed grid for getting to know each other for the first time. We decide quite spontaneously who will talk to you. It’s usually a combination of Janine, our recruiter, and a specialist who has the role. This can be the respective ‘Head Of’, but sometimes also one of our team members. We just look at what interests us about you and who might be an interesting person to talk to for you. There is also no one asking or judging in the conversation. We have a conversation at eye level, tell about each other, get to know each other and see if it “sparks”.

A little tip if you want to prepare yourself: Think about what questions you have for us, what wishes you have, what drives you, rather than what answers you could give us. Just like on a blind date.

And of course there is no dress code and no recommendation. Except maybe this one: Dress authentically – just the way you are.

If, after getting to know each other, both of us have the feeling that this could be something with us, then we arrange a trial day, on which we “get to know” each other better.

For you, it’s all about experiencing the team and our work environment on any given workday and getting a feel for whether you want to make things happen in that environment every day. For us, it’s about experiencing you for a little longer and in a slightly more relaxed environment than on  a blind date.

On the taster day, you will sit in the middle of the team breakfast first thing in the morning and experience our team dynamics in an authentic way. Then we’ll show you around our campus office, introduce you to the teams, and then you’ll get some tasks that are typical of the job we’re talking about. This way, you get a feel for what tasks actually come up for us and we get a feel for how you approach such tasks. The whole thing lasts until around mid-afternoon. If this is not feasible for you, we will find an individual solution.

At the end we briefly discuss our common impressions of the day and then go apart for the time being. As a rule, we will then tell you within a few days whether and in which role we would like to have you join the team.

Only when we both know that we would like to try it together, then we draw up a contract. We have deliberately formulated our employment contract in such a way that you, even as a layperson and without much professional experience, can directly understand what it says – without having to ask a lawyer.

We offer a lot of leeway for the individual organization of your working and vacation times. And you can also adjust that every year to fit your life situation. However, to make things 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. Then, if you have other ideas, we’ll make a short contract amendment and adjust the salary accordingly.

Your weekly work hours can be shifted in either direction in 4-hour increments (currently, the spectrum ranges from 12-40 hours per week, with many having 36 hours per week and thus Fridays off). Your annual leave may vary between 20 and 32 days. As mentioned: always with appropriate salary adjustment and you can readjust that every year for the next 12 months.

We negotiate your salary individually. It fluctuates with your experience and the responsibility that will come with it when you’re full time. How much our onboarding effort will be until you are fully self-sufficient in the role you are aiming for will also play a role.

And we absolutely have salary bands for different roles that are linked to the respective SkillScore. Compliance with them is important to us, so that things are fair for everyone.

We also like ambitious lateral entrants and have thus established our very own methods and processes, which can only be compared with those of other agencies to a limited extent. That’s why structured onboarding is very important to us.

Your onboarding plan will guide you through your first few months as a Shopmacher in a structured way. There are appointments that are the same for everyone. For example, ‘the SHOPMACHER story’ with André or ‘time booking in Jira’, which we have already put in your calendar for you. This is followed by a few individual appointments to suit your role. Here you will be given the relevant contact persons and can make your own appointments. This is because the topics are relevant for everyone at different times.

Depending on your experience, understanding and project situation, you will start in a team where you will be integrated into the team processes of the scrum teams. Here you can work without pressure for 4-8 weeks. You will quickly get to know customers, technologies, processes and teams in ‘real life’. And you can actively participate from day 1 if you want to.

For the initial period, you will be assigned a buddy who is not on your team. Simply so that you have someone outside your team by your side. You’ll do regular catch-ups together. This is really all about you and you can organise the appointment as it feels right for you.

At the end of your probationary period, you will complete your skills evaluation together with your team coach and the respective Head Of (we currently have the SkillScore for project managers and developers). The skills evaluation is also the launch pad for your development discussions, in which we discuss your development potential and prospects with you once a year. When you do it this way, it’s simple: where your skills have room to grow, we figure out together what needs to be done to move you forward; and we hatch a plan for how you can go about it. New every year.

Your first development interview will be exactly one year after the end of your probationary period. Until then, you will conduct regular catch-ups at increasing intervals with your buddy and your team coach. Weekly at first, maybe quarterly later. But that varies with individual meeting needs and, of course, your growing experience.

During your probationary period – i.e. the first 6 months – there will definitely be a “Pit Stop” after about 3 months and the ceremonial handover of a gift at the end of the probationary period. And then it actually runs by itself …

• Public transport: Are you traveling by public transport? The bus stop “Ehemaliger Bahnhof” in Gescher is only 250 meters away from our office
• Bicycle: Probably the most beautiful option (if the weather cooperates 😉 ). In front of our office you will find numerous bike racks that you can use.
• Car: If you arrive by car, you can best use the parking facilities to the left of our building

Wende dich gerne an Claudia oder Anna per E-Mail an [email protected] oder rufe uns einfach an unter 02542/87030