Since our founding in 2020, we’ve been growing steadily and couldn’t be happier to welcome new colleagues or “finwayans” to our team month after month! Would you like to be one of them soon? We want to tell you what to expect when you think about applying for a job with us.
Because the decision, whether we want to go further with you and whether you want to take the next step in your career with us, should be made carefully. So the question that comes first is: Are we a good fit for each other?
What new talent is finway actually looking for? Of course, we hire people from different areas, so your expertise, passion and talent (e.g. to sell, to develop, to market) are important. However, when it comes to personality, there are certain points that are extremely important to us for each new employee:
Initiative & Sense of Responsibility: Every new employee contributes significantly to the success of finway. We are not yet a completely mature company, our processes are still being formed and so every employee can make a lasting contribution. The ideas of many bring us further and so we wish that everyone in the team would like to make their contribution. Because we are still a young team, everyone can take responsibility early on and shape things themselves.
Curiosity & inquisitiveness: As a young company, we have every opportunity to shape our own path and find out what works and what does not. We try out a lot and learn something new every day. Every employee should want to look beyond his or her own area. An exchange between the departments (e.g. Marketing and Sales) is incredibly important in order to discover new potential and enable continuous optimization. There is no “silo mindset” at finway, quite the opposite. We all pull together!
Creativity & new ideas: We don’t go the way everyone goes – we want to set new standards. We create a new way of managing finances in the company. This requires creativity and new ideas – there is no textbook to follow mindlessly. And since every employee has a part to play in this new world, we also want diversity of ideas from every new finwayian.
Does this sound like you and would you like to take this important step and become part of the finway family? Then we look forward to your application and give you some helpful insights into our application process here:
We do not specify a fixed format for your application – but personality is convincing. We want to know why you are interested in finway and why you want to join us on our journey. We know that every application takes time, but be aware of what a big step a new application can be – so take your time. But that doesn’t have to mean that you have to send us a page-long application. Here, too, we stay true to our motto with finway – keep it short & simple.
Our HR managers take the time to evaluate your application and invite you to a first interview if your impression is positive.
Important: We give feedback to every applicant – even if it was not enough.
If you receive a positive message and an invitation to an interview, then congratulations! Your application has shown personality and convinced us. This interview is about us getting to know each other. We want to learn more about you, but above all we want to give you the chance to ask your questions about finway. Before the interview, think about what you want from your new employer and feel free to ask our HR management questions.
Depending on the department and seniority, technical interviews vary. If you are interested in a sales position at finway, we want to recognize your talent for persuasion and ask you to make a pitch, for example. On the other hand, if you want to join our development team, there might be a coding challenge to solve. In any case, these interviews – yes, there may be more than one – are conducted by the respective Hiring Manager. This is the person who is responsible for your area and with whom you will later work closely. This gives you the opportunity to get to know your first team member. Also use this time to ask your questions about our approach, the team, your future tasks or your development potential.
In every application process there is a peer and a founder interview. It is important to us that you get the chance to meet the people behind finway. This is the team you will be working with on a daily basis, developing new ideas, having discussions, and implementing initiatives. Team fit is the most important thing for us in the application process. In the peer interview you will get the chance to talk to future teammates from your department or across departments. Here you can ask any question you haven’t had the chance to ask before. But also be prepared to be asked curious questions that go beyond technical knowledge. It is also important for our founding team to get to know new finway colleagues. That’s why at the end of each interview process there is a conversation with at least one person from our founding team. Find out how the idea for finway came about, what is particularly important to the founding team and what the future of finway should look like.
Whether you receive an offer from us after the application process is also basically a team decision. All colleagues involved in the interview process describe their impressions to the person in charge. If this is positive and you are also able to convince them professionally, you will promptly receive an acceptance and an offer from us. If this also includes the possibility of receiving ESOPS, you will receive more details on this in addition to the usual information on salary, vacation days, work equipment and starting date. Furthermore, every full-time employee receives a development and hardware budget from finway. You can also decide where you want to work – we also offer remote positions. After that, we hope for your acceptance of course!
But even if it is not enough, we will let you know fairly and promptly.
We know that this process requires some stops. However, we believe that our approach makes sense for both sides. Both the candidate and finway should have the opportunity to evaluate whether they are a good fit for each other. A new hire costs a lot of time and money for both sides – so a decision should be made carefully. It is important for us to find out who is behind the application and how this person fits into our team. This also guarantees all existing finwayians that finway can develop and progress with each new member.
“Internal financial processes” – that sounds kind of dry and abstract. After all, if you don’t work in a finance department or as a tax consultant, or if you’re not responsible for a company yourself, you won’t have much contact with invoice processing and the like. But any current finwayan will confirm this: Finances, the way we approach them, are fun! True to our motto “We put the fun in finance”, we focus on unusual perspectives as well as absolute customer proximity. We want to understand what makes our customers tick and at the same time communicate it: With finway, your internal finances become a breeze. Making this a reality requires full commitment from all teams. For example:
Every member of our team has the opportunity to fully contribute, to develop and to go beyond the scope of his or her own role. We place the highest value on our teams communicating, collaborating, giving each other feedback and supporting each other. Every finwayan takes on responsibility early on and is immediately a full part of the team – through our onboarding process, we ensure that you quickly arrive in your role and hit the ground running.
At the same time, we give you the chance to learn a lot: we share our knowledge, give you the insights you need for your work, but also welcome and support it if you want to expand your knowledge proactively, e.g. through interesting webinars.
We are all convinced: With finway we are building something great together, the effort is worth it!
In addition to an onboarding program tailored to your new area of expertise (e.g. you will shadow many calls and demos in the sales team) and where you will be taught the relevant knowledge you need for your new job, it is important to us to mention three important components of our onboarding:
You get the opportunity to get a taste of each area to get a broad picture of finway. Besides a detailed demo of our product, an introduction to our tech setup, an insight into our own internal financial processes can also be part of it. This will give you an overview of how our company ticks and works. This is regardless of whether you start with us in marketing or development. In your first week with us, you’ll also have lots of get-to-know-you meetings with a wide variety of colleagues – always around 30 minutes, via video chat or in the office over a cup of coffee.
We’ll make you the next financial expert. At finway, you deal with a company’s finances on a daily basis – even if you don’t work in finance yourself. We don’t expect you to bring any knowledge to the table – because we will definitely give you that. This includes an extensive knowledge base but also sessions on our own accounting with our finance team. But we do expect you to have an interest in getting involved in this area. You should develop a “problem-solving mindset” in order to be able to act in a customer-oriented manner in whatever activity you are involved in.
In order to be accepted in the team in the best possible way, you will be assigned a buddy who will answer any question you may have about finway, no matter how strange it may sound. You will get to know your buddy on the first day and he/she will be your contact person for the next few days.
Listen to the new start at finway from a newbie! Alexander joined our team in September 2021. He answered a few questions about his start at finway, so you can also hear a perspective from our team.
Alexander: “Getting to know the recruiting department was very personal from the very first moment and the recruiters were very interested in me as a person.
I quickly realized that the purpose of this interview was not to test my technical know-how or to find out what skills I bring to the table, but to find out how I think about a job, how I imagine a company, what values I represent, and also how I spend my time outside of work. Throughout the entire process, I had the feeling that the emphasis here was on interpersonal skills.
Of course, there were the one or other challenging moment through our CRO to see how I would handle it – but always with the necessary understanding, respect and the lasting feeling that not knowing something right away is not a bad thing.
However, the biggest thing that sticks out in my mind is that every interview (VP Sales, Peer Interview, Founder Interview) took place in such a stress-free environment. My thoughts were the following “How does it work that at a startup typical stress level, so much time is taken for a potential colleague?” But it was like, everyone was so inquisitive about me as a person, my ideas and perceptions – Incredible.”
Alexander: “Very well, it was a mixture of self-determination and yet a clear idea. In the first week, I mainly talked to colleagues and got to know finway. You talk to many different types of people. Diversity seems to be really important here. I talked to colleagues who have been with me for a long time and to colleagues who are new. Everyone you ask shares their views with you and asks you openly about yours. This exchange, this togetherness, makes me want to be a part of it. I wanted to be finwayian from that moment on.
The training sessions with the responsible colleagues were also great. Everyone took time for me and tried to teach me as much as possible. From the working student to the founder team, everyone was there for me. And again and again the question came up how my feedback was, how I perceived the situation and how it matched with my ideas. After all these conversations and various exchange meetings, everyday life can finally come.”
Alexander: “Like someone they were really looking forward to. No one missed the opportunity to welcome me and let me know that if I had any questions or anything like that, I could get in touch at any time. So from an unconventional introductions at coffee chat to “hijacking” scheduled meetings to get to know each other, it was all there. Conclusion: Super team, super culture, super company!”
Jennifer is co-founder and co-CEO at finway. She holds a Master’s degree in Accounting and Finance from St. Gallen (HSG) and Munich (LMU). 2023 Jennifer got selected by Forbes for their renowned “30 under 30″ list in the technology category. As part of the management team, she leads Finance, Operations & Legal.
