Thenny’s bunq Onboarding Experience: Learning by Doing

Hey there - I’m Thenny, a talent sourcer here at bunq! I just joined during the first week of January. Previously, I was a salesperson through and through, but as the new year, new me mantra goes: I made the career change into recruitment with bunq.

That’s a story for another time...

Here, I’d love to take you on my onboarding journey from a 1st day starter, to a full-fledged bunqer, in just a month!

When I think of a company’s “onboarding period”, I picture a series of videos and sessions about what to do, and how to do it. That, and a plethora of PDFs to go through. On my first day, I was well-equipped with a double-shot coffee from Starbucks and my best noise-cancelling headphones - after all, I’ll spend 90% of my time looking at my screen.

Boy, was I wrong about that

At bunq, onboarding is a hands-on affair from day one. We were greeted by an amazing onboarding specialist, who became a wonderful friend in the process. We had an onboarding plan for each of us; and it was the first time I’ve seen an onboarding document with goals, and a to-do (not to read, or to watch) list. For the first time, I really felt like I could make a difference during my first month. Surely, the pressure was on, but I loved being able to take ownership of my role from the get-go.

We ended our first day with Friday drinks, and that’s when I got to meet everyone else, in and outside my team. As a people-person, this was one of my favorite parts: enjoying the company of my new colleagues. It was an extremely welcoming and friendly vibe.

During the first 3 weeks, we were basically set up for success at bunq, both in our individual roles, and as a bunqers.

First, we spent some time on truly learning about bunq, and their users. However, it wasn’t by reading docs or listening to old stories. It was the most hands-on approach I’ve experienced. We explored the app, tested features, found (and reported) bugs, and suggested improvements. However, the product only follows what the users want - we also completed 100 tickets opened by bunq users, so we can get a first-hand idea of what their needs are.

The whole experience was new to me. It’s also probably the most challenging part of onboarding, for most people - no worries though, there’s always room for mistakes and to learn, which is what I loved most about this approach. And there’s always help!

During the 4th week, we dove into the deep end and took ownership of our roles - for me, that meant sourcing for and speaking to candidates (like you!). I’m someone who learns by doing, and unlike any other onboarding I’ve done in the past, I’ve learned the most through bunq’s way of onboarding.

In general, I really appreciated how people here seem to live by, and follow, one main value: making a difference every day. Everyone works hard, but they play hard too, as they say. My best moments? I can attribute those to the fun-loving people I’m working with.

As a talent sourcer, I get to share my experience with candidates on a daily basis.

What can I say? As part of the recruitment team… I can’t wait to hear from you! Check out our jobs page here.