Dario Jazbec Hrvatin’s path from in-development tester to Documentation Team leader
January 20, 2021
This month, we are highlighting Dario, who joined OnTheGoSystems in April 2014 as an in-development tester. He is now a Documentation Team leader for WPML and Toolset.
Dario, what was your exact position when you started?
I started in 2014 as the first in-development tester on the company. I guess I did well as we hired more testers after that. :) I was a tester for our Toolset plugins but through testing, I got to know WPML a lot as well.
What do you do now?
I’m now the Documentation Manager and I lead the company’s small but awesome team of Technical Writing specialists.
How did you grow into this role? What led up to it?
Back then, we didn’t have anyone doing just documentation and I said, of course, I’d like to do that (privately, I was writing short stories for as long as I remember). I also got into usability testing in this way. They were things outside testing that we needed someone to do and I actually like doing them. :)
As I took more and more documentation work, it became obvious that I’m pretty good at writing documentation. I also became pretty good at producing videos and other skills required for documenting (and marketing) a product.
So, one day, Amir, our CEO, asked me if I would like to take over the responsibility for our whole documentation. I knew it will be a huge challenge but I also felt that I can do this really well so it was a no-brainer actually. :)
What really helped you get to this position?
As a person, I am really curious (ask anyone) and I like doing different things. So, when I started as a tester, there was an opportunity to do other things besides testing. This is a great thing about OnTheGoSystems because if you’re keen on doing something more, you just need to show initiative when the opportunity arises.
When it comes to skills, I would say that what was crucial was my English proficiency (I’m not a native speaker), excellent communication skills (in general, not just written but also in direct contact with people), and my organizational skills. Other than that, it’s also hard work as in, caring about what you do and not just clocking hours every day – this is the foundation of doing a good job.
Are you content in your role now? What motivates you?
I am very happy in my role and there is always something new. For example, our little documentation team grew to 3 members (myself included) in 2020 and now I have more team-leading responsibilities, making sure everyone feels content and things are running smoothly.
We have great products and I really want people to use them, that’s my client-facing motivation. I know how someone can find any tool challenging and I want to help them.
And on a personal level, the whole team and the company motivates me. I honestly like everyone I work with closely here and they’re all super smart and hard-working but still humble and generous. So, working with such people motivates me because I want my part (documentation) to be at least on par with the amazing work others are doing. Not as a competition but as synergy.
In short, what advice would you give someone who wants to grow within the company?
Don’t be afraid of challenges and new responsibilities. Stay curious and learn more about things you like doing and are good at.
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