Deniz’s Story: Saying Yes to His Dream Career

But once in a while, you hear a story so inspiring, that it’s simply worth sharing with the whole world. Or at least, all of you reading. Without further ado - meet Deniz!

Tell us a little bit about what made you join bunq

Looking back, I didn’t have an idea of which career path to pursue. You know…student dilemmas. My only goal was to become financially independent in order to support myself. So then my search began.

Back in 2019, while looking through job offers, I remember stumbling upon an opening which said: “tell us why you want to get shit done”. This was bunq’s old internal slogan. You don’t see something like this often…the wording, I mean. I found it bold that a company is confident enough to use this kind of terminology, openly. It was different, and I wanted something different. That’s what actually caught my eye.

How was your experience at bunq, so far?

My first position at bunq was a part-time Customer Guide. I was still a university student, and the support position didn’t have special pre-requirements, so it seemed like a great place to start.

Fast forward a couple of months, Yordan, my team lead at the time, asked me if I’d like to become a Group Lead. This meant that I, a 21-year-old boy, living in his university dorm, with no experience as… well, anything…would be leading a team of customer guides. Shocking, right? He saw something in me, which I couldn’t even see myself. For the next year and a half as a Group Lead, I went through learning experiences that will probably be with me forever.

Around late 2021, I decided to drop out of university. This was against the advice of most people around me, parents, and peers. But I wanted to focus on building a career that I truly wanted. Soon enough, came another opportunity - to work on building an internal admin platform for the operational teams. This was a pretty frontend-heavy job, so I started getting more and more involved with coding. Working on the project required more knowledge than I had at the time, so I began coding in my free time as well. Long story short - I quickly fell in love with it.

Once the project was released, I asked my team lead if I could try out for the frontend developer position. A couple of weeks later, I had my Make A Difference day (trial day). Keep in mind, I have 0 experience in actual frontend - only what I’ve been doing in my free time. Lo and behold…I got the job!

What still excites you about working at bunq?

If I were to pick one, it’s probably knowing that I’m doing something I truly enjoy with people that share the same passion. It’s also quite amazing knowing that the product you’re working on is actually making someone’s life easy.

Besides, bunq is a special place. It’s a place where YOU matter, regardless of your background or education. It’s a place that enables you to grow, to speak up, to put your creativity to work and actually make a difference every day.

Got a story that lives in your mind rent-free? Share it with us

Ah yes! This is something that happened recently. The frontend team was working on ensuring the bunq web v2 was ready for the bunq Update 20. One week prior to the update, I got a call from my team lead, Thijs, randomly asking me whether I have plans for the weekend. I didn’t. He goes: “well, how about we fly you out to Amsterdam, so the whole team can work together?”.

Next thing you know, I’m buying flight tickets and booking a hotel, because I have to be there the next day! Working an entire week with the team and attending bunq Update 20 live at De La Mar was an unbelievable experience through and through.

Any advice for people that may be looking for a new challenge?

One small piece of advice: ask yourselves whether the thing you’re doing on a daily basis is something that brings you joy, and if you find value in it. If yes, then amazing! If not, now is as good a time as any to make a change and pursue that thing you’ve always wanted to. You’ll be surprised.

Looking for something new? Go on - have a quick look at what it's like working at bunq.