My first months in Telia

Let’s be honest, starting a new job is challenging! New people, new culture, and new ways of working. I joined Telia in January this year and must admit I had my doubts about working for such a large company. Turns out, I love my job and Telia really is the home of your next big opportunity. In this post I want to share some of the reasons why.

THEIR VALUES ARE NOT JUST PRETTY WORDS ON PAPER

I came into the company with what you would call an alternative background. I currently work as a Frontend Developer, but don’t have any education related to this field. I fall under the category “self-taught” and spent around two years studying coding on my own while working as a manager at a restaurant. By hiring someone like me, Telia acted on their claim of being Norway’s biggest challenger, not letting it become something they simply say. There is a huge need for more developers today. By daring to take a chance on people who don't necessarily have the “correct background”, they are challenging the status quo. This is exciting to be a part of!

THERE IS SPACE TO LEARN AND TRY NEW THINGS

Already in my first week I was assigned a project, working on one of our micro frontend apps. (We have a whole series on micro frontends on the blog, to learn more about it start with Why we chose Micro Frontends. We also talked about it in Episode 2 - Micro Frontends of our podcast). We work with lots of exciting technologies which calls for a steep learning curve as there are lots of tools and technologies to dive into. Luckily there is space for continuous development and learning. The last Friday of every month is reserved for Learning Fridays. This is a set apart day for learning something new. We like to share that with each other and people outside Telia, both here on the blog and also on our podcast.

WHAT TIES IT ALL TOGETHER: THE PEOPLE

Let’s not forget the people, your coworkers. They can make a huge difference in whether you enjoy you job or not. Telia has a great culture and a lot of awesome humans. Right from the start I have felt like a part of the big family and been given space to be myself and contribute. Has it been weird starting a new job from my living room? Yes! Would it be easier to get to know my coworkers in the office? No doubt! But we make it work and we try our best to focus on having work-life balance, emphasizing the importance of enjoying life outside of Telia. We work to live; we don’t live to work!

CONCLUSION

To end, Telia definitely isn’t perfect, as no company ever is. But when the main points in my first onboarding session was:

  • Please make lots of mistakes, and

  • Challenge everything we do,

I was like, alright I can work with this!

Do you have any more questions about working in Telia? Let us know and we’ll be happy to chat about it. Drop us a line on twitter!


Frontend, New job, Work environment