Employee stories: Interview with mobile app developer Maria

I studied computer science at the Technical University of Ilmenau in Thuringia. The Master’s program included a six-month internship, for which I wrote several applications. But because my father had recently started at JTL as a developer for JTL-Shop and was so enthusiastic, I naturally sent an application there too. After the interview, it quickly became clear to me: this is where I want to do my internship!

At that point, I had already had a few job interviews with other companies in which only my specialist knowledge was tested. I often felt like I was taking an oral exam. At JTL, everyone was super friendly and the interview atmosphere was much more relaxed. They explained to me exactly what my tasks would be during the internship. My contacts even asked me whether I would like to do it or would prefer to do something else. I hadn’t experienced anything like that before.

Absolutely! I never felt like an intern. And I was never treated like one, but always like a fully-fledged team member. For example, after my second week as an intern, I was given a complete clothing package from JTL, including a hoodie and polo shirt. I remember that Thomas Lisson, one of our Managing Directors, came to my desk on my very first day, greeted me by name and welcomed me personally as an intern.

As I had dealt with both REST APIs and mobile apps during my studies, I was immediately assigned the JTL-WMS Mobile App as my own project. Two experienced developers from JTL were my contacts, with whom I was able to discuss my ideas again and again. I was given all the freedom I needed to try things out and really learned a lot. I also found it great that I was able to visit our customers’ warehouses to see what the app really needs to do in practice and where processes can be optimized.

Of course, coding is the main focus. And yet I find my job very varied. On the one hand, I have to implement the wishes of our customers based on their tickets, and on the other hand, I have to coordinate with the developers of other teams again and again, as JTL’s products are very closely interlinked. The best ideas often come from dialog.

Of course, it was unusual for everyone at first. After all, I was the first developer. But from a professional point of view, it was never an issue. At JTL, I have never experienced that a distinction is made between male and female developers. It’s all about your expertise and your ideas, working together to make a difference and move a project forward.

It’s a project that has been with me since my first day at JTL – you inevitably develop a close relationship (laughs). But joking aside. I think there’s something very tangible and down-to-earth about our warehouse management system JTL-WMS: even though we operate with abstract codes, I can directly see how my ideas make the work of a warehouse employee more efficient.

Janusch and Thomas Lisson created something like a baby back then with their ERP system, which we as employees are now helping to grow up. You can just feel that we all put our heart and soul into it. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re a developer. JTL makes no difference.

Sometimes that happens, but rarely. Because as much as I like coding, I like to do other things after work. For example, I crochet and bought a sewing machine during the lockdown. I enjoy sewing so much that I even used it to make my own wedding dress. But I also regularly meet up with work colleagues who have now become real friends.