"I recently celebrated my 10th company anniversary, and it’s been quite a ride!"

Meet Yulia Thak, Recruiting Partner, who's been with idealo for 10 years. During that time, she's held various roles in different departments and got to know the company from various angles. Learn more about her journey:

What’s your current role at idealo?

I’m working as a Recruiting Partner in the Business Cluster of the People Department. Together with the hiring managers, I am sourcing and recruiting new talents for the teams Customer Experience and Content.

How would you describe your job to your parents?

That’s a tough one! I would probably say that I am looking for excellent people who can make our company successful and identify themselves with the idealo culture and philosophy. As a recruiter, you’re partly responsible which characters shape the future of idealo.

Who benefits from your work in what form?

On the one hand, our company; on the other hand, our customers. For example, I call the Customer Care Team the voices of idealo. By really focusing on hiring people who are passionate about customer service and our products, we established a highly motivated team that represents idealo to our users and merchants in the best way possible k. And our customers get the amazing service they deserve.

How long have you been working for idealo?

I started my career at idealo ten years ago as a working student in the Content Team taking care of our product catalogue and product information At that time, idealo had less than 200 employees!

After that, I decided to work full-time at idealo as a Category Manager for two years. In this job, I not only gained a lot of professional experience but also became a product specialist in the categories I was responsible for – namely home improvement, garden, and kitchen taps. This still comes in quite handy when I’m going to a hardware store nowadays!

After a year in the graphics department, I then started an apprenticeship for Office Management. Thanks to the experience I had already gained, I finished in two instead of three years while still having the chance to see a lot of different departments at idealo. One of them was the People Department where I got the opportunity to work very independently on recruiting projects. A former colleague back then immediately recognized my potential and passion for recruiting.

However, after my apprenticeship, I first worked as a Team Assistant in the Office Management Team for two more years. I was involved in many exciting projects, including the introduction of the idealo bicycle fleet and organizing two big office moves in Berlin - from Zionskirchstraße to Schönhauser Allee and from Schönhauser Allee to Ritterstraße - because idealo was growing so fast.

During my parental leave, I took some time to reflect and decided to switch to the People Team for an internship as a Recruiting Assistant after all. Since January 2020, I’ve been working in my current position as a Recruiting Partner.

I always kind of knew what I wanted to do, and the changes of departments came quite naturally.

Are there particular people or situations that have had a lasting impact on your career path at idealo?

I always kind of knew what I wanted to do, and the changes of departments came quite naturally. However, I would describe Ramona Timmons, Lead of the Head Office and my former mentor as an important figure in my career. She always had some helpful advice for me and supported my change into the People Team. Ramona was also the first person I told about my idea to move into recruiting!

Is there anything you would do differently if you could go back?

I would do it just like I did! Except maybe one thing: Putting more effort into improving my English skills by working in an English-speaking department for a bit. My first language is Russian, and I started learning German when I was 19 as I’ve always been very passionate about the language. But English unfortunately always took a backseat for me.

What do you think makes your work at idealo so exciting? What motivates you?

By hiring new people, I can create the future of idealo and its culture since our employees are the most important asset of idealo! At the beginning of my career, I’d have never thought I would be capable of doing job interviews in German - idealo really gives you the chance to develop your skills and grow. Apart from that, I like that many of my current as well as former colleagues have become good friends of mine.

What are your special passion projects or hobbies outside of work?

Since I became a mother, I most enjoy spending time with my child. And now that I think about it... geocaching! I started with it during my pregnancy, and it turned into a big passion. It's a great way to explore Berlin. It has become our weekend tradition to pick an area or district in Berlin and geocache there. I could tell you at least five hidden treasures around our office from the top of my head! :D

Thank you, Yulia!

Ready to start your own journey at idealo? Check out our open positions: