Frontend & Project Management: Tamme's working student journey at Purple

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How did you hear about Purple?

Through a friend — yes, actually even two friends from my major, who both worked here as working students for front-end development. That was funny because then we were a total of four people from the study program working here. The job here was my first employee job. Before that, I worked online as a tutor for almost two years and was the point of contact for many students for questions in the area of computer science, and then I wanted a real job outside of university.

You are studying media informatics at TU Berlin. Are you also planning to stay with us during your master's degree?

I am currently writing my bachelor thesis at TU. After that, I'll have to orient myself again, but I'm pretty sure that I'll continue the media informatics master's degree directly to it and will probably continue to work as a working student at Purple for the next two years.

What exactly are you doing at Purple?

I do project development, i.e., primarily front-end stuff for various customers and projects. This means that we first sit down with the customer to see what their demands and requirements are. For example, which layout they have developed with one of our designers for us to then implement the layout and functions in such a way that the data that is available in the background then looks reasonable, plays out, and can be used.

Does that mean you are involved in customer meetings?

In fact, I came into direct contact with customers very quickly. For almost one and a half, almost two years, I have been working as a front-end developer on the stock exchange newspaper project — Jonas is taking over project management there. Over time, I took on more and more project management tasks because many technical details had to be clarified.

In doing so, I realized how much I enjoy this perspective. Jonas and I are now a well-rehearsed tandem: According to the stock exchange newspaper, we have continued this model at Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag. While Jonas heads project management, I am responsible for more and more non-technical topics — from cost estimates to internal processes and coordination with the customer. We do some tasks together, others I already solve myself.

It gives me a lot of pleasure and I didn't expect it at all at the beginning. Because I had originally planned to switch to technical product development. My next step; a move to Max's product team has already been decided. In the last two years, I've realized that I like project management and that I really enjoy it. That is why I will tailor my master's degree accordingly.

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What was your first impression of the company?

It was a while ago, but the thing that surprised me was the direct and open communication and the relatively independent way of working and managing times, which is also a certain responsibility when you do this yourself for the first time. I also took on responsibility for solving tasks very quickly.

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What is the most exciting project you've worked on?

I was definitely most impressed by the stock exchange newspaper's web app. As a developer, I took on sub-project responsibility for the first time: I brought the site live, took care of SEO and integrated the paywall. I then continuously supervised new features over 1.5 years — from special categories to sponsored content to extended tracking for usage analysis. Most of them had already started, but I led the project all the way to go-live and developed it beyond. Today, the stock exchange newspaper is in support mode, as hardly any major changes are necessary and a colleague has taken over the continued operation.

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Which project are you currently in?

I am currently working for Deutscher Landwirtschafts-Verlag (DLV). Together with two colleagues, I initially implemented an ePaper app last year. Based on this, we are now developing a new website and app that represents the entire digital news area, including ePaper. Jonas and I accompanied the project from the start: First, we defined the scope, time frame and dependencies with other teams and the customer. We have calculated how long individual development steps take, clarified necessary data imports and ensured that all articles and categories are correctly available. In just under six months, we built the front end and functions. We are currently in the final QA phase, testing all features together with the QA team, fixing recent errors and optimizing details. When testing is complete, the project will soon go live.

Which moment made you particularly proud?

Two features of the stock exchange newspaper: First, the paywall, which we now use in almost all web projects. Second, the single sign-on for subscription customers. I designed, implemented and passed on both solutions to the team so that they were adopted in further projects.

What do you particularly appreciate about our corporate culture?

Direct communication and friendly cooperation. On office days, we eat lunch together, which promotes exchange and solves problems quickly. This close relationship makes the difference for me.

100% remote — would that be something for you?

No, my current model with a day and a half remote and a day in the office is ideal. Many questions can be answered directly on site: A quick look over your shoulder or a “Do you have a minute? “ often saves hours of emails.

If someone new joins the team now — what advice would you give them to get started?

Don't be reluctant to ask: You'll always get support, but no one can know where you're stuck right now. Weekly meetings offer space for exchange, but a lot of things in the Project Team work through proactive communication. Share your questions and difficulties directly in the team chat or talk to your team lead — this will quickly help find the right solution.

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Would you like to advance your career with us? Then take a look at our career page.

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