Deike Schell, Junior Human Resources Business Partner

Kickstarting the career in style

How I started working as a junior HR Business Partner at byrd, and why I stuck around

Finding a job as a young professional

Most people might know what I'm talking about when I say that it's not easy to find a job as a young professional. I faced exactly the same problem earlier last year, shortly after I successfully completed my studies. I sent out countless applications to corporate companies and startups, but more often than not there was only a friendly rejection coming back my way. Unfortunately, it is also often the case that applicants do not receive any feedback at all.

There are also companies that give career starters a chance, and here is my advice to you - the most important thing to do is to believe in yourself and to be confident during the application process and the interview(s).

A common reason why recruiters might not be swayed in favor of your job application is the lack of work experience, which is essential for many companies. Which makes me wonder -  as a recent graduate, how should you even rack up years and years of relevant work experience prior even landing your first job? I think this is utopian. Many young people certainly feel the same way I do. Every beginning is difficult and persistence is key to success. The most important thing is not to lose faith in oneself. At some point, the effort will pay off. Notwithstanding, the above-mentioned situation cannot be applied to all companies - there are also companies that give career starters a chance, and here is my advice to you - the most important thing to do is to believe in yourself and to be confident during the application process and the interview(s). In addition to work experience, your personality and soft skills that you can bring to the company often weigh more. This is also the case with my current employer - byrd.

My application process

I still remember my first interview, the so-called screening call with Nathalie. It was mainly about getting to know the company and seeing if the cultural fit was given. That is an attitude that I would like to see in other companies as well. Talking from my own experience, personality and cultural fit outweigh the professional qualifications; at least in the first stage of the process. What we pay attention to in the screening call is how motivated the potential new colleague is and what values are important to them. After my first interview, I was enthusiastic about what I was told. Shortly afterward, another interview with Julia, my current team leader, followed. She also encouraged me in my positive feeling that I would like to become a part of byrd. After the second interview, I also had the opportunity to get to know the office and employees in Berlin. I reckon that is a good sign, or? I can still remember the day well. The move to the new office was not so long ago, so it still looked a bit chaotic. But it had a certain charm and I was warmly welcomed. The day was kicked off with a conversation with Alex, the CEO and the founder, followed by one with Julia, Head of HR, with whom I have already spoken virtually. After about an hour and a half into that day, I knew I wanted to work there. The company values such as “trust is our foundation” or “team first everything else second” really correspond with what is also important for me. Being warmly welcomed to the office with that special startup atmosphere is something I would describe as awesome working conditions for career starters.

And where do I stand today?

I have been employed as a Junior HR Business Partner since September 2019. After a good year at byrd, it seems that the initial positive impression of the company still holds true. I am really thankful that byrd has given me the opportunity to prove my skills and that I am given a lot of space to develop myself further. This not only on a personal but also on a professional level. My team leader gives me the freedom to accomplish my tasks independently and knows that the responsibilities are in good hands with me. I’m very much thankful for this. In this one year, I have already learned a lot. For example, if a future employer asks me about short-time work, I have been an expert in this field since this year.

However, in addition to many administrative tasks, such as carrying out visa processes for our foreign employees or the preparatory payroll accounting, the topic of recruiting now takes up a large part of my work. My focus is on the Commercial and Operations departments. Here I am responsible for future byrdies from the initial contact to the drafting of contracts. So I am now in a position to decide on the future of the applicants and what I am currently working on is to give our applicants feedback on the status of their application as quickly as possible, because there is nothing more annoying than waiting a long time for a simple follow-up on the status of your application. Furthermore, there is also a risk of interesting applicants dropping out early, due to them deciding to work for another company while waiting for your follow-up email. However, this can be prevented by reacting quickly, especially with candidates who are extremely motivated to join the team. I even set a record this year - from the day of the application until the person has accepted our offer, just 10 days have passed. The average is more than a month. This was just one of many hires this year. In the last few months alone we have doubled in size. How did we manage that? That's a good question. The countless interviews we have conducted have been worthwhile. I must say I am really proud of our team's performance here.

byrds of feather flock together

Many applicants are particularly impressed by our international and diverse team. Over 25 different nationalities and almost 30 different spoken languages distinguish us from other companies and I am curious to see which nationalities will be joining us next. If I had more time and was good with foreign languages, I would definitely take the chance at byrd and find a language tandem partner, but who knows what the future will bring. However, working at byrd definitely remains exciting and I am looking forward to what the future will bring. Be it work experience that I can get as an HR & Office manager, challenges that will accelerate my personal growth, or all the great stories that we as a whole team will create in our endeavors to revolutionize the logistics industry. byrd has given me the opportunity to kickstart my professional career and I hope that many other career starters will have the same positive experience as I had.

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