Attending a WordCamp resulted in an exciting career move for Kruno Golubić, May’s Employee of the month. We will get to know Kruno better in the following interview.
Kruno, where do you come from?
I come from Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. In fact, I’ve lived my whole life here.
When I was a kid, there were seven of us living in the same house -my grandparents, my parents, my two siblings, and me. Life is less crowded now as there are just three of us – myself, my wife Ana, and my son, Nikola! I live a simple, ordinary family life. On the weekends, I go to the local farmers market to shop for wholesome foods and we all enjoy family pastimes such as playing board games and drawing.
How did you get involved with IT?
When I was about 10 years old I got my first computer. It was a ZX Spectrum. I learned BASIC, and this got me interested in computers and all things related to them. Then in 1995, I discovered the Internet. That same year I created my first website. From that moment on, IT became a part of my everyday life. I’ve held a variety of positions in my professional career, but they were all focused on information technology, user support, and education.
IT was also the focus of my formal education. I hold a BE in Information Technology, MA in Library and Information Science and PhD in Information and Communication Sciences.
From time to time, I attend Word Camps and WordPress Meetups organized by the WP community.
This is the first important reason for supporting WordCamps and WP Meetups: They are great opportunities to become more involved with other IT enthusiasts, share ideas and get to know other users and developers.
OnTheGoSystems actively encourages its employees to actively participate in WordCamps and even to organize local WP Meetups.
The second reason to attend such events is that it means that you can personally meet OTGS personnel. Because we are a remote company, we have no way of meeting each other regularly unless you regularly support WordCamps and WP Meetups. People know our products, WPML and Toolset, rather than the company name OTGS. We wear T-shirts advertising our brands and customers are pleased to approach us in a friendly atmosphere to ask questions or express their concerns.
Is that how you heard about the company?
Exactly! I was attending WordCamp Zagreb for the first time back in 2017. Dario Jazbec Hrvatin from OnTheGoSystems was giving one of the lectures. It was entitled “Open Sources Of Inspiration.” I never actually spoke to Dario, but I was impressed by his use of Hercules Poirot as an illustration. It made his presentation personal to me as I am a Poirot fan and I never forgot Dario. Sometime later, while I was following Croatian WordPress group on Facebook, I came across a job ad that Dario had posted. I remembered him immediately. The job offer appealed to me so I applied for it. If I hadn’t attended that WordCamp, I probably would never have noticed the job offer!
And today Dario is my team leader :)
This brings me to the third reason for attending WP events – meeting people from OTGS at WordPress events can lead to an exciting career move. It did for me! I joined OTGS exactly one year after that WordCamp. I had always wanted to work for a truly international company to gain new experience and skills. Working for OTGS was my first remote job. That was a refreshing career move. I started working for OTGS in September 2018 as a Technical Writer. My abilities were quickly recognized and rewarded. Only a year later my role was upgraded to Technical Documentation Assistant.
Would you like to explain to us what your job involves?
Certainly. I work as part of the Documentation team. You may think that Documentation is all about writing the instructions for users but it is not. It is much, much more. Here in the Documentation Team we also create video instructions, tutorials, courses, etc. We assist the Marketing team when it comes to writing and creating certain materials. Our WPML and Toolset Supporters also rely on the documentation that we produce. So, although I work with all teams, I mostly work with the Support and Marketing teams.
I’m also responsible for keeping the translations of our websites and plugins up to date. This means that I have to work closely with our Systems Team and also with our developers. Working with external translators is also a part of my day to day tasks.
The most important skills for this job are writing and communication skills. The key is to be able to put yourself in the role of an end-user and see things from their perspective.
What qualifications are needed?
You don’t need to be a developer, but a good understanding of the development process and basic programming skills help a lot. Always try to learn new things. QA and UX are the fields that attract me very much. I hope that I’ll find time to learn more things about them.
Do you continue participating in WP events?
Definitely! I was a speaker at Zagreb WordPress Meetup back in March 2019. We had just released the 1st Beta Toolset Blocks and it was a great honor for me to give the world this sneak preview.
Dario and Danijel Erjavec were also there. Danijel and I had been at university together 20 years ago. He had seen my name on the Team page and called me. Today we are colleagues.
I like remote working. It gives me flexibility when it comes to balancing personal and professional life. We are a global company. This gives me the opportunity to work with people from different countries and with diverse cultural backgrounds. I’m always learning new things.
See also: Getting familiar with a remote company
When it comes to the challenges of remote work, I must admit that sometimes I miss having a coworker near me. That’s why I enjoy attending WordCamps and WP meetups – it’s great to have live human interaction again!
At WordCamps and WP Meetups you become more involved with other IT enthusiasts, You can personally meet us from OTGS and get the right answers to your questions. Who knows – you may decide to join us!
Take a look at our open positions: WordPress Jobs
Come Work With Us
Are you interested in working with a globally distributed team that encourages growth and advancement? Are you ready to harness the power of technology for a better future?
