It is always interesting to start a new process, a new path, and more so if it is related to what you like and are passionate about. My case: web design and development. Coming from the graphic arts area, I always thought that this path would be elusive to me, but I never stopped believing in it. I started the search, prepared for it and started sending my first CVs. After a few tries and interviews, I finally achieved my goal: Swapps was the company that contacted me and took an interest in my resume. ✌

I am not going to deny it, I was nervous and anxious to start in a totally different environment to those previously lived, however immediately you start, you already feel part of the work team.

Working in Swapps is something really interesting. When you start, you really have a complete report of what the company is doing and you can already get an idea of what they expect from you. Onboarding is the key document that keeps you from getting lost in the work area and allows you to be aware of everything. Although the document is long and complicated in some topics, you can easily read it and with a little research – I mean a little Google – you can get ahead with it.

The first days were somewhat cumbersome, perhaps because I was not used to the tools that are used daily in the workspace: Jira, Toggl and Slack, tools that allow you to see your tasks, track the time it takes in carrying out each one, and communicate internally with the team through different channels, respectively. They have a very short learning curve, although Toggl and Jira tend to cause you little inconvenience if you don’t pay attention to every project you work on.

As an expanding and growing company, you have the opportunity to work on different projects. There is a daily meeting or morning meeting of approximately 5 minutes where each team member summarizes what was done the day before and what will be done on the day that passes. Each task has a Project Manager who is in charge of monitoring it and carrying out the respective testing or proof that the task has been correctly executed. This working model works so that the final work does not contain any type of error when reaching the final customer and a well-made product is delivered. My tasks at first, although basic, were gaining difficulty as I was adjusting to the workflow, but you always have help at your fingertips if you feel that the task is something you do not understand or are not capable of doing. Here is something that has cost me a bit, since wanting to finish your task makes you even struggle unnecessarily with something that another teammate could easily do in a few minutes. It’s just a matter of knowing what you can do fast and what you can delegate – without neglecting your obligation, obviously.

The work team is compact and diverse, each taking on different tasks and projects. The general idea is that each team member can cover the other, as much as possible, in each task assigned. Something that has been very positive for me is being able to collaborate in different tasks ranging from the design of launch pages to that of ads for digital marketing campaigns. Teamwork is vital, and it is something that is instilled and you feel as soon as you touch a project. If you know something that can help in a particular task, you will always have the opportunity to share it and socialize it with the group, which makes you feel in some way valuable for the company’s objectives.

At Swapps I have definitely learned a lot of different elements so far: time management, teamwork, problem-solving, and indeed, organized workflow. It is something that costs at first but you get used to it. In the technical question, delve into Git, Github -for version control-, Command Line Interface (CLI), WordPress and its different plugins, Beaver Builder as a site builder, and other everyday elements.

It has been an interesting experience for now, and I think that the more you can learn, the more you can integrate and be useful to each team project.