Who am I and where do I come from?

​I’m Gerrit and I grew up in the very north of Germany right at the North Sea. I’d describe myself as a calm person with a weak spot for puns. Also I have a weird affinity with geographical data like population numbers of cities and countries.
​Looking back at my childhood/youth it was such a privilege having the sea so close by. During summer we often headed straight to the coast after school which only took 15 minutes by bike. Back then I kind of took it for granted. After graduation I worked for half a year in the restaurant business to save some money. The following 5 months I travelled through South America, New Zealand and South East Asia. That trip ignited an ever glowing wanderlust (as it is for most people who take on such a journey). Another result of my trip was the decision to study Earth Sciences at the Universities of Hamburg and Kiel. It seemed like the logical fusion between chemistry (which was my masters in school) and hiking. It is a choice I would take over and over again.
​Inbetween I tried to travel around the world as much as possible to get to know more places and people. It is one of the most enjoyable things I can think of and thus one of the things I’m most bummed about during the pandemic. I’m well aware though that these are rather tiny problems so it is all good.​

How did I get to tecRacer?

​At this point feel free to switch back to Melis Blogpost and just picture me next to her. Being charged at by Felix at the job fair. Getting to know the colleagues in Hannover during the infamous tecRacer application day just a few days after that. And then getting a call to receive wonderful news at the same evening. Yes, I was also part of all that. Anyhow I’d like to elaborate a bit more on that application day. It is the main reason that made me choose tecRacer and I remember the day fondly.
​At the beginning all employees and applicants briefly introduced themselves. One of the employees said he was specialized in DeathOps which sounded somewhat alarming. What followed was a packed presentation about AWS and a task to prepare and present in front of everyone. I couldn’t really tell myself, but apparently I did a good job. The rest of the day was laidback including a group lunch and lots of talking to all employees. The environment makes you forget you’re still observed so you automatically let your guard down.
​What impressed me the most was the relaxed atmosphere paired with knowledgable and enthusiastic colleagues. And everyone seemed to be able to chime in whenever a technical conversation was about to happen. It felt a little like I was learning a new language just by trying to follow the conversations. It wasn’t all technical talk though and people wanted to get to know me too. This all felt very natural and immensely influenced my decision to become a consultant and eventually a trainer at tecRacer. After all you want to work with people you genuinely like.​

My experience with tecRacer

​Putting this to “paper” makes me realize and digest my journey once more. It is hard to believe where I (and many other colleagues) started when I joined tecRacer over 2 years ago. Don’t get me wrong – the amount you have to learn, especially in the beginning, is dizzying. But you are never alone during this journey. It is an environment to learn and to share knowledge. Also you are immediately invited to start initiatives that benefit the company. You don’t have many limits which also means that you have to be very self-responsible. Overall I feel that tecRacer trusts me and that is a pretty good feeling.​

Bottom line

​Being at tecRacer you can (and have to) learn a ton. You will talk with many different people and see many different projects which hardly feel the same. And you are welcome to help shaping the company.