Author: Zuzana Kocáková

Office manager Zuzka joined msg life Slovakia to support the project and program managers. She was looking for a job that would fulfill her in the long term and decided to use her experience with us. Are you curious about what a typical day looks like as a Project Management Officer – PMO and what qualities a successful candidate should have? Zuzka has prepared handy hints for you to help you on your way to your dream job.

How long have you been with msg life Slovakia?

“I have been with msg life Slovakia since March 2020.”

What job were you recruited for?

“I was recruited as a Project Management Officer.”

How did you get into project management?

“I was looking for a job that would fulfill me in the long term, where I could grow professionally, improve my PC skills and language competences.”

What attracted you to working at msg life Slovakia? Why did you choose us?

“The first thing that caught my eye was the job offer, which seemed challenging and I was hesitant to apply or not. I took it as a challenge, fought for it and today I am happy that I succeeded. Now I understand why I went through several rounds of interviews. Why did I choose msg life Slovakia? I knew I wanted the job and I had a good feeling about the people who interviewed me and the overall atmosphere. I was very pleasantly surprised by the personal approach and interest of my future employer. I appreciated and still appreciate his dedication and approach to the staff. In addition, msg life Slovakia is one of the few companies to offer a wide range of employee benefits. It’s also a baby/family-friendly company, so I’m able to combine work responsibilities with family and personal pleasures.”

How is working for us different from previous work experience?

“Working conditions, the atmosphere in the team, the company philosophy and the value of the person. At msg life Slovakia I am a person, not a number.”

What does your normal working day look like?

“I admit that I have not experienced two identical working days in a row. Every day is different and brings with it many challenges, and that’s a good thing. Otherwise, I’d be bored. However, I do make coffee every morning and during the day and try to socialise with colleagues if work duties allow. I missed this activity when working remotely. Basically all day long I deal with agendas, tasks and requests that are either regular, but also with those that are related to specific meetings on a given day.”

What are you working on now?

“I am currently working on several projects, two customer and one internal. It is difficult to describe the job of Project Management Officer as we have a very broad portfolio of activities. It depends on how long a person has been in the job position and needs time to gain the necessary experience and knowledge of our industry. I make sure that the projects are clear from a controlling, organisational and financial point of view. And a lot of activities really fit under this characteristic. Project Management Officer is part of project management, is directly involved in its activities and supports the project and programme manager in their projects.”

What projects are you currently working on?

“Signal Iduna and VHV.”

With whom do you communicate and solve problems?

“I communicate with my project and programme managers but also with colleagues who are working on the project.”

What programs do you use at work?

“I work with MS Office, most of the time – 99.9% – I work with Excel. Within the team we also use OneNote and of course PowerPoint. For communication and presenting StarLeaf, Unify, Fastwiever. I also work with ERP, JIRA and CRP.”

What skills/knowledge are important for your job?

“Good communication skills, language proficiency, proficiency in Excel at an advanced level is key. Those who are not spreadsheet types and hate Excel will be unhappy. You also need intrinsic motivation, a willingness to learn new things, calmness, consistency, responsibility, to be able to set priorities, to allocate time and energy to tasks correctly.”

What do you like most about your job?

“I am improving my skills in foreign languages and in working with programs, especially Excel. I can see a lot of progress in myself compared to my knowledge when I started working. The disadvantage is the time commitment.”

What are your colleagues like?

“My colleagues are really great. They are friendly, cheerful and always helpful. I can count on them.”

What qualities should your new colleague have to fit in?

“They should definitely have a sense of humour and a dose of enthusiasm.”

3 words that come to mind when you hear msg life Slovakia?

“Certainty, stability, progress, creative friendly atmosphere. (6 words, hope you don’t mind) :)”

Scrum master Michal joined msg life Slovakia as a software developer. Find out what his role is. Michal has been working as a developer at msg life Slovakia for several years. As a graduate teacher in mathematics and computer science, he feels confident in his role as Scrum Master, as it reminds him a bit of the role of a teacher. His role is to take care of the Austrian-Slovak Danubius Scrum team, helping them to understand the principles of agile development in Scrum and creating the conditions for improvement.

How long have you been with msg life Slovakia?

“I can never answer that question off the top of my head. It’s been 9 years, I think.”

What job were you recruited for?

“I was recruited as a software developer.”

What is your current job position?

“I’m currently working as a Scrum master/developer.”

How did you get into programming?

“I’ve been into programming since I was in secondary school. I graduated as a teacher in the field of mathematics-informatics. I had been teaching for a while, but I wanted to try my hand at being a programmer. Later I took out a mortgage, so I won’t go back to teaching again for another 20 years, I think.”

What attracted you to working at msg life Slovakia? Why did you choose us?

“Before msg life I worked in Vienna for 4 years. I was fed up with travelling every day and moreover I had the feeling that I wasn’t moving any further. Work was becoming a boring routine. That’s when msg life contacted me and provided me with everything I was missing in my old job. I didn’t have to travel so much and I got the space to learn new things. Actuarial science won me over right away. Plus, they paid me what I needed.”

How is working for us different from previous work experience?

“I’ll be honest. My current job is not my dream job. I think there are only a select few in the world for whom work is actually a hobby. It is much more important for me that I feel good at work. I really like coming here, I look forward to my colleagues and the good atmosphere that we have.”

What does your normal working day look like?

“I get to work quite early to avoid rush hour traffic. I have a quiet breakfast, have morning tea with my colleagues and usually start working around eight o’clock. For lunch, we either go down to the canteen or head out for something good. Then I work until five o’clock most days and rush to see my family after work. I literally run away ☺. I try to bike, skate or run to and from work. I think sport is very necessary in our profession.”

What is your job? What are you currently working on?

“As a developer, I implement new customer requirements, often enforced by new legislation, and fix bugs that are discovered. Probably like a developer in any other company. I also specialize in actuarial calculations. As a Scrum Master I take care of an Austrian-Slovak Scrum team (called Danubius). My role is to help the team understand the principles of agile development in Scrum and to create the right conditions for it to improve. For example, in efficiency, quality of development, communication within the team but also outside it, responsiveness to change, etc. My goal is to create a self-organized Scrum team that doesn’t need a Scrum Master ☺ .”

Who do you communicate with at work and solve problems?

“I communicate mainly with members of the Danubius team. In addition, with everyone who is in any way involved in the work of our team. For example, I organise meetings where we meet the people for whom the outcome of our work is intended and get feedback from them, on the basis of which we adapt our further development. One of the important roles of a Scrum master is to help the team remove obstacles in their work.”

What project are you working on right now?

“I’m working on a product called msg.Life Factory Standard. It’s a foundation that individual customer projects adapt to their own needs.”

Do you have experience with other projects within msg life Slovakia?

“I’ve been through several projects and roles at msg life. That’s one of the things I like about our company. Occasionally they’ll offer me a change and I usually don’t say no. I like to learn new things.”

What apps and programs do you use at work?

“I probably use MS Office, Eclipse and Visual Studio the most.”

What skills or knowledge are important for your job?

“This is a very difficult question for me. There are different types of developers and each of them may be suitable for different types of tasks. Personally, I would like to be deliberate, purposeful, consistent, creative and efficient.”

What do you like most about your job? And what don’t you like very much?

“I am a trained teacher and one day I would like to teach again. However, the role of a Scrum Master reminds me a bit of the role of a teacher and I like that. In addition, as a developer, I occasionally manage to get to some interesting algorithmic or mathematical problem. I like that too. And what I don’t like? The fact that I spend most of the day behind a computer.”

Who are your colleagues?

“My colleagues are very nice, friendly, helpful, funny. If I didn’t have such a wonderful family, I would definitely spend more time with them in private.”

What qualities should your new colleague have to fit in?

“I think the most important thing is that they are interested in the job and have the desire to be part of our team. Fitting in is not a problem, we are a good bunch.”

3 words that come to mind when you hear msg life Slovakia?

“Part of my life.”

Jaro has been working at msg life Slovakia almost since its inception. He was able to see with his own eyes how the fledgling PIT Slovakia is growing and how far we have come as msg life Slovakia. He works as a Java software developer in a small team on a product that is developed only in Bratislava. In his work, he especially appreciates the friendly team, which is a great motivation for him. Read what a senior Java developer does at msg life Slovakia.

How long have you been with msg life Slovakia?

“I have been working at msg life Slovakia basically since its inception – since the summer of 2002.”

What job were you recruited for?

“I was recruited as a Java developer.”

What is your current job position?

“At the moment I work as Java developer. I am alsothe leader of our small team. But we are lucky that we are often involved in the creation of specifications, so we also have a direct influence on how things work.”

How did you get into programming?

“To tell you the truth, I don’t even know, but I remember that in secondary school I was still drawn to programming, even though at that time I didn’t have a good idea of what it was all about. Of course, since then, the programming has changed completely.”

What attracted you to working at msg life Slovakia? Why did you choose us?

“When I joined our company, it was a small, newly founded company with no name. It was recommended to me by a colleague who already worked there. My company at the time was in the midst of mass layoffs, I didn’t have much choice. I made my decision about my future employer based solely on my feelings at the interview. It would certainly be different today. I have been able to see first-hand how the fledgling PIT Slovakia has grown and where msg life Slovakia is going. ”

How is working for us different from previous work experience?

“I personally appreciate the friendly, even family atmosphere in the company the most. I don’t know what it is, but I have heard similar opinions from several colleagues.”

What does your normal working day look like?

“A quiet working day means I can get on with my tasks – either implementing new things or fixing bugs. A busy working day is marked by various phone calls, especially from Germany. This is usually due to a problem that needs to be solved immediately. If this situation is repeated too often, it sometimes causes stress. In addition, various brainstorming, consulting, tester support and similar tasks are on the agenda.”

What does a senior Java developer do? What are you currently working on?

“At the moment we are devoting all our energy to successfully managing the migration of a new customer. This is a large and successful company, which is matched by the pressure for speed and quality of execution.”

Who all are you communicating with to solve any problems?

“Of course, I communicate with all our team members, our testers and I am also in daily contact with my colleagues from Germany.”

What project are you working on right now?

“Our team is developing a product msg.Pension. It’s a web-based application for managing accounts where employees save money for (early) retirement. We have been in charge of it since its beginning and its development is only taking place here in Bratislava.”

Do you have experience with other projects within msg life Slovakia?

“Yes, I was previously involved in GUI development for msg.Life.”

What apps and programs do you use at work?

“We program in Eclipse, we use JBoss and of course we use all the standard programs like MS Office and various tools.”

What skills and knowledge are important for your job?

“Of course, knowledge of the different technologies we use on our project is important. However, it is very important to have a good know-how in the field our product is related to. Since the specifications of new functionality are often very vague, it’s up to us to figure out how the thing will actually work. This often takes up most of the development time.”

What do you like most about your job?

“My favourite thing is when we come up with an elegant solution to a problem during a brainstorming session. This reinforces how good we are and what a brilliant system we are making :). Of course, the afternoon coffees and debates are also priceless. Sometimes the conversation turns to a work topic, and it has often happened that we have solved a long-standing problem over coffee.”

Who are your colleagues?

“I’m lucky with my colleagues and I wouldn’t change my job because of the atmosphere in the company.”

What qualities should your new colleague have to fit in?

“Personally, I think the most important thing is what kind of person they are. Technical skills can be taught, but if people don’t get on with each other, the team will never work well, even if it is made up of qualified experts.”

3 words that come to mind when you hear msg life Slovakia?

“Friendly atmosphere, good mood, fairness. I can’t sum it up in 3 words.”

Are you interested in Jaro’s work?

Do you have experience with Java programming and do you enjoy mathematics? See our latest job offers in IT development:

• IT Integration Architect
• Software Migration Engineer

Are you interested in the job of IT software tester in msg life Slovakia? Peter will tell you how he got into this job and what he is currently working on. Are you interested in working at msg life Slovakia? Get to know our colleagues and find out more about how they got their jobs, what their roles are and what a typical day is like. Peter has been with us since 2017 and works as an IT tester. Read what he is currently working on.

How long have you been with msg life Slovakia?

“I have been working at msg life as an IT tester consultant for the insurance industry since 2017.“

How did you get into testing?

“I was inspired by my acquaintances, by whom I concluded that
testing is interesting and suitablefor me, as I have the right IT knowledge for the position, as well as knowledge of the German language.”

What attracted you to working at msg life Slovakia? Why did you choose us?

“My current colleague recommended me to work at msg life Slovakia. He told me that the working environment here is great and the work he does is interesting and motivating. In addition, the company supports employees in their further development and career growth. His words were confirmed for me in the end.”

How is working for us different from previous work experience?

“Now I work in a less stressful environment for me. I manage stress at work, communication is freer and I don’t have to deal with an angry customer on a daily basis.”

What does your normal working day look like?

“I make coffee when I get to work and collect regression and manual tests as needed. The tests are run after every software change, to verify that everything is running as it should. I also solve JIRA tickets and use JIRA to report newly discovered bugs. Subsequently, the bugs found are fixed by the developers. After they are fixed, I test the software again to see if it’s really OK.”

What are you currently working on?

“My job is to prepare regression tests for our customers’ various products. Then I evaluate these tests.”

Who all are you communicating with to solve any problems?

“Most often I am in contact with my colleagues from the development department and with the testers, with whom I consult any questions about testing and bugs found. I also communicate with colleagues from Germany and Austria.”

What project are you working on right now?

“In addition to my current project, I have been transferred to the NLV – NÜRNBERGER Versicherung project. This is a German insurance company based in Nuremberg, offering life and non-life insurance products as well as products in the financial services sector, mainly in Germany and Austria.”

What programs do you use at work?

“I mostly work with Eclipse and DBVizualiser. I also use internal company applications for test automation.”

What skills or knowledge are important for your job?

“For me, the most important skills are XML and SQL. Of course, I also know German. I acquired this knowledge before I started this position. I learned German in high school :).”

What do you like most about your job?

“I’m sure it sounds like a cliché, but I like that I am always learning new things.”

Who are your colleagues?

“My colleagues are really great. They’re helpful and friendly, I think we’ve got a really nice team here.”

What qualities should your new colleague have to fit in?

“A colleague should have a sense of humour and a sense of adventure in addition to some knowledge for the position. We are a good bunch, we go to interesting
teambuilding events, but we also meet privately outside of work.”

What comes to mind when you hear msg life Slovakia?

“Fitko, Germany, super
working team.”

Are you interested in Peter’s work? Do you have experience in software testing or would you like to try something new? Check out our latest consulting and testing jobs.

• Automated Tester – Specialist
• Business Process IT Consultant

Are you interested in working at msg life Slovakia? Get to know our colleagues and find out more about how they got their jobs, what their roles are and what a typical day is like. Today Lukáš, a software tester and currently also a test manager at msg life Slovakia, answered questions about his job.

How long have you been with msg life Slovakia?

“I joined msg life in November 2016.”

What job were you recruited for?

“I took up the position IT tester consultant.”

What is your current job position?

“I am currently working as IT test manager and at the same time I’m still on two projects as test engineer.”

How did you get into testing?

“Ironically, it was almost by accident. After more than a year abroad, circumstances forced me to return to Slovakia. As I wanted to stabilise my financial situation first, I wanted to ‘play it safe’, as they say. I saw the tester position as a good stepping stone. The offer from msg life Slovakia was definitely the most interesting among the other offers, so I sent my CV.

What attracted you to working at msg life Slovakia? Why did you choose us?

“It was definitely an opportunity to use my knowledge of the German language. In addition, I saw a wide range of possibilities for further career paths, which after all proved to be true for me. Last but not least, it was also
very good financial evaluation and for me interesting company benefits.”

How is working for us different from previous work experience?

“I don’t have much work experience yet. I worked for a year in the state sector as a researcher. I definitely see a difference in the ratio of work done and remuneration. By that I don’t just mean the financial aspect, but also the other benefits.”

What does your normal working day look like?

“My job is very varied. My day is divided into two phases. The first phase lasts from 6am to 10am. During this time I have my ‘peace of mind’ because I can work on tasks that do not require anyone else and I can do them alone. In the second phase, my calendar is already full of deadlines. These tend to be demanding but constructive, we solve various problems and together with my colleagues we try to find the optimal course of action. At the end of the working day, I always take stock of the tasks and prepare an approximate agenda for the next day.”

What are you currently working on?

“As a team leader, I am primarily responsible for organizational matters – I coordinate the team’s activities, plan, prepare various documentation and presentations, and last but not least, I try to optimize processes and improve the quality of work in the team. In addition, I work as a technical test analyst on two Austrian projects, where most of the tasks consist in supporting colleagues and solving various technical problems with test applications, or with the database, test environment, etc. I also often work as a ‘liaison’ between testers and developers, especially when it comes to tests that are more technically demanding. For example, even when something needs to be written directly into the database, multiple scripts and programs need to be called directly and so on.”

Who all are you communicating with to solve any problems?

“Of course, mostly with members of my team. In addition, I am in contact with skillmanagers, other teams and, of course, on a project level with colleagues from development, whether they are Java programmers, integrators or mathematicians.”

What project are you working on right now?

“The two Austrian projects I come into contact with the most are the two already mentioned. As my team provides support and coaching for testers on multiple projects, as a team leader I am in contact with many other projects, so it’s very varied and dynamic.”

What programs do you use at work?

“Apart from classic office stuff like MS Office, I work very often with Eclipse, GIT, Putty, Jenkins, DBVizualiser and various benchmarking programs like BeyondCompare or DiffDog. Of course, we also have several enterprise applications used for test automation. In addition, I also use a number of small applications that can sometimes make life easier, such as FileLocator, Greenshot, and similar little things.”

What skills/knowledge are important for your job?

“It may sound like a cliché, but I consider analytical thinking to be clearly the most important for my work. In addition, it is necessary ability to quickly make connections a not being afraid to take responsibility. As far as knowledge is concerned, in my opinion, it is necessary to have a certain insurance and IT literacy, everything else can be learned very quickly on the fly.”

What do you like most about your job?

“What I love most about my job is definitely the ability to solve problems and optimise processes. And I don’t like monotony without visible results. Fortunately, this happens very rarely in my position.”

Who are your colleagues?

“Of course, we have a mix of personality types and moods. But I have to say that
I get on very well with many of my colleagues. Of course, as in any other workplace, I get on with some colleagues more and others less. But I think that’s perfectly natural and okay.”

What qualities should your new colleague have to fit in?

“In my opinion, anyone who is interested in integrating into the collective will fit in.”

What comes to mind when you hear msg life Slovakia?

“IT, insurance, my employer ?” Are you interested in Luke’s work? Do you have experience in software testing or would you like to try something new? Check out our current vacancies in consulting and testing.

• Automated Tester – Specialist
• Business Process IT Consultant