Well it’s that time of the year again that holidays are over, school’s back on and just about everyone has had their summer holidays, unless you are of the cultured folk who know that August is the best time to take your time-off. While everyone is dusting off the cobwebs that sprung up in their absence, I got to talking with Antero, our Head Coach, about my time here at Apex Analytics, before he left for his holidays, and he left me with homework. Such a despicable move, leaving me with work, while he’s off enjoying time off. Though, in honesty it is always good to have a look back and reflect on what has happened and how it has impacted those around. Such my thoughts on delegating this whole post to our marketing intern, but I thought it would be more interesting to get two different perspectives from two different people at Apex Analytics, who have been here for a short amount of time. So without further ado, here’s my answer to our head coach’s question, how has my time at Apex Analytics been so far?

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I’ve been with Apex Analytics now for four months, coming up to five months at the time of writing this, so at the end of your usual probationary period. A typical time to either continue or part ways. My time has been good at Apex Analytics, enjoyable even. I’ve been given a lot of autonomy within my work, which has been enjoyable. Sure it comes with its corresponding responsibilities, that is a given, but as the niche market that we are operating in, is of intrinsic interest to myself, that is hardly an issue. Actually it’s been a bit of a game changer, being able to dictate very far, company wide stance and position on things, such as processes.

Now I haven’t gone mad with power, I’ve quite frequently checked with others within the company that its towing the line that has been previously made, with improvements that I saw fit. It’s something I find personally annoying when a company or an organization isn’t being consistent with its messaging, so I was keen to avoid that mistake myself. So far I think I’ve done an alright job at it, at the very least. A clear break from it is in the form of these blog posts that I have been writing now for the company. I felt that there was a way to promote the content and our work in a different way, to build a library our customers and our new sales folks could refer back to regarding different topics that we cover. Easy to read, not patronizing quick dives into topics that might not ever make it into an FAQ, but something to consider with further reading pointed out. That break has been intentional and extra spice added onto it. 

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It is a small team of us at Apex Analytics and we all work remotely. We have flexibility over our own schedules, as long as the work gets done. I find it welcoming as it allows to deal with life and is pragmatic. Everyone is busy, but we all put in an effort to communicate efficiently, which is key to making this work. Now I am aware that this set-up is not for everyone and we do meet-up in person frequently as well, which is always nice and seems to turn into a mini-workshop everytime, where we tackle issues that we have faced. Perhaps that’s why we all work remotely so we can actually get our jobs done. 

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Working in a small team is by no means a picnic, but the atmosphere and low hierarchy allows us to steer away from group think and be quick to change directions. I find that everyone is free and encouraged to speak their minds, but you’ll also have to walk the talk. I’m honestly enjoying it. I get to talk about a subject I’m deeply interested in, some might even call me passionate about, with our clients and do a lot of back office aspects to support all others in the company. I can’t really complain as I can play to my strengths for the vast majority of my days,  something that I know is a luxury in the job market. 

Though I think that this is enough from me as I can feel myself slipping into a sales mode trying to pitch working for us. When I go to work, I expect to work, which I have found myself doing. That does need to be kept in mind. But I do wonder how others find it, work with us has been? So as I alluded earlier that I almost delegated this task, so my suggestion for furthering reading is to hear from Paulina as well.

Paulina’s summer internship at Apex Analytics

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Author:

Heikki Rekilä