Analysis has claimed that hiring former workers – or “boomerangs”, as they’re known as, just isn’t good and corporations ought to keep away from it. However we beg to vary.
“It’s tremendous harmful to oversimplify complicated qualitative issues in HR”, wrote Babsi, our VP of HR & Organizational Growth, in our month-to-month e-newsletter HR2.
Folks depart for a lot of totally different causes, and that is particularly frequent within the tech trade. We consider that if individuals wish to return, it’s an indication of an excellent match between what they consider in and Runtastic — be it what we do, our work setting or how we roll.
To help our method, we collected some backstories from Runtastics that returned after a time period, and that is their perspective:
I spotted that each time I shared the place I labored, I didn’t really feel the identical pleasure as I used to after I mentioned “I work for Runtastic”,
Moni, Folks and Tradition Supervisor
After I initially joined Runtastic in 2015 as the primary Expertise Scout, I used to be primarily doing so for the job. But, inside a number of weeks I used to be fully in love with the crew spirit, the internationality, the solution-oriented mindset. And I’d have by no means guessed that I’d resolve to resign after slightly greater than three years.
I consider the explanations for me leaving have been two-fold: on the one hand I used to be supplied a better place in a unique trade. So, for me, it gave the impression to be a really pragmatic profession selection. Alternatively, I used to be struggling in my non-public life so I used to be discontent with my general scenario. And I consider that I believed altering jobs would make me joyful once more.
Now, reflecting on this, I ought to have identified from the start: neither am I a practical individual (in any respect!), nor would a job be capable to compensate for my non-public unhappiness.
So, inside a number of months within the new job, I knew that I wished to return to Runtastic. I missed the mindset, I missed the best way we labored, and I missed the crew. And I spotted that each time I shared the place I labored, I didn’t really feel the identical pleasure as I used to after I mentioned “I work for Runtastic”. Sure, this nonetheless provides me the chills.
So, after I was capable of rejoin inside a 12 months, I couldn’t have been happier. I used to be allowed to tackle new obligations, but keep throughout the similar crew; and beloved that I used to be welcomed again so overtly and wholeheartedly. And whereas the pandemic has taken its toll on our social interactions, I nonetheless can’t think about a spot with a greater bunch of individuals.
“There are a lot of technical issues to geek out about which have improved during the last years”,
Erik, Backend Software program Engineer
There are two major explanation why I joined again in 2016. As a passionate bike owner, I really like driving within the mountains. Austria is clearly an excellent place to dwell for those who’re into biking, climbing, climbing or simply nature usually. Discovering a job there introduced me one step nearer to doing my pastime in an setting I actually take pleasure in.
The second influencing issue was about working in a site which matches my private pursuits. As a software program engineer, you could find a job in lots of industries. Utilizing my career to work on merchandise which might be “in line” with my hobbies was a robust argument to hitch the corporate.
One thing that actually stood out for me was the skilled and supportive setting. It already began earlier than relocating from Germany, by supporting me with my relocation expertise, and ended with a productive exit discuss which left no person offended.
Working right here was an excellent studying expertise for me, too. Whereas actually being a bit overwhelmed by the complexity of the system sometimes, there was all the time somebody to succeed in out and ask for assist.
Working remotely was not an choice again then, and I needed to relocate to my hometown for private causes. Going again residence, I discovered a job at an organization I used to be already working for throughout my research. The working setting and expectations have been fairly totally different since constructing software program wasn’t their major enterprise (building trade). Because the crew I joined was newly established, we had the liberty to arrange our personal processes and select an appropriate tech stack. On this time, my crew closely benefitted from the experiences I gained at Runtastic.
After some time, nonetheless having the constraint of not having the ability to relocate to or close to Austria, it was nice information to obtain a message from a former colleague (or higher, a good friend), that Runtastic began hiring distant workers. This, mixed with my nice recollections and growth alternatives, made me resolve to rejoin remotely, and I completely don’t remorse it!
There are a lot of technical issues to geek out about which have improved during the last years, which makes engaged on our code base much more enjoyable. The distant setup works wonderful for me, too. I’m actually joyful that I joined a squad which partly consists of my former Salzburg colleagues.
I used to be all the time assured to fulfill devoted, revolutionary and caring crew members”,
Tanja, Backend Software program Engineer
In 2016, I completed my research within the subject of biomedical informatics and was subsequently in search of a job the place I may apply the abilities I acquired throughout my time at college. I realized from a good friend that Runtastic was hiring for a Information Engineer at the moment.
Though I used to be a bit skeptical about how effectively geared up I’d be for that place, I made a decision to hitch Runtastic and it turned out to be an excellent match as processing sports activities knowledge of a big consumer base for analytical functions just isn’t that totally different from processing large biomedical datasets.
I actually loved working within the knowledge crew, there have been fairly a number of new issues to study and I received to collaborate with a number of proficient and passionate individuals inside and out of doors of the crew to supply the very best experiences to our customers.
This additionally gave me the possibility to get insights into how different groups and roles at Runtastic are working and I used to be particularly fascinated by our backend crew and the way they dealt with hundreds of thousands of API requests from the apps on daily basis.
After I relocated to a different metropolis inside Austria after 3 years as a Information Engineer as a consequence of private causes, I made a decision to additionally swap my focus and took on a software program engineering position at one other firm. Again then, Runtastic was beginning to allow workers to work remotely, however I had the sensation that wasn’t the fitting factor for me. Because the pandemic hit Austria solely a short time later, I needed to work at home in any case, and came upon that it truly labored out fairly effectively for me. Additionally, I missed the Runtastic tradition — the proactive, numerous and open-minded setting. I used to be very happy after I received the possibility to rejoin as a Backend Engineer, working remotely from my new residence.
It has been a little bit of a bumpy trip since then when it comes to a continuously altering crew setup, as Runtastic undoubtedly stays true to its agile mindset worth, flexibly adapting to new conditions and roadmaps. Nevertheless, irrespective of which groups I joined or labored along with since then, I used to be all the time assured to fulfill devoted, revolutionary and caring crew members. I’m grateful that this has and won’t change at Runtastic, irrespective of the circumstances.
Contemplating a Change?
Everybody has their very own causes for coming again. And we welcome them as if it have been their first time round. That makes our crew spirit even stronger.
Have you ever labored or finished an internship with us previously? Or would you be all in favour of being a brand new Runtastic? Take a look at our profession web page, there is likely to be one thing for you. We welcome everybody, and no, you don’t must be sporty to hitch the crew.
