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10 questions in Recruitment process

What are the recruitment process stages at Curiosum?

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It all depends on the specific role that you are applying for within our company. However, the basic rule is that we try our best to make the recruitment process as short and quick as possible. It usually consists of two stages. The first interview after your application is to establish a connection and check if our company fits your perception of a great place of work. We also like to see if you not only fit our culture but can improve it by being yourself. The second stage is mainly technical and is used to assess your abilities and check if you are confident with your skillset.

Is there any problem with me working remotely from another country?

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Currently, we are recruiting candidates from all over European Union. We encourage candidates to apply from all over Europe because, for most of our projects, we can make it work. If you feel like you need a little bit of workation in another country, you can easily work remotely from each destination of your choosing. The only thing that matters to us in this scenario is you feeling comfortable while working efficiently.

I am very interested in your company, but I don't meet all of the requirements... should I apply?

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Definitely YES. The requirements for each and every role are different. Some of them are hard requirements, like good command of the English language or an interest in technology listed in a job offer - those ones you have to meet. But there are also light conditions which can often be replaced by other skills you bring to the table. So if you feel you do not possess all the listed necessities - do not hesitate to apply and try your best. Remember, we all started somewhere.

I am not from Poland. Would you be still interested?

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For Curiosum, it is 100% irrelevant what is your nationality. As long as you can understand and appreciate our company’s way of working, contacting clients and fulfilling tasks, it is not important what is your place of birth. Therefore, you can still be an essential and valuable part of our Software House.

What if I don't speak Polish?

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In our Software House, we are working fully internationally, which implies that you definitely need to communicate properly in English, but other than that, you do not have to worry. But, of course, if you wish, our team would be more than happy to share our culture with you and teach you our language if you so desire.

Do you offer vacation days or sick leaves?

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Well, yes, of course. In our company, we offer a complete package of benefits that are tailored specifically to your needs. A few of those benefits are vacation days and sick leave - it doesn’t matter if you are on a mandate contract or a B2B contract. We want our curious employees and partners to be fully rested and healthy. Life sometimes happens, so no matter what, you can be sure that you do not have to stress when you need a vacation or feel under the weather.

Can I recommend someone?

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We have a dedicated referral program for our employees and partners, which features an effortless step-by-step process of recommending someone to work in Curiosum. It is a little more complicated when it comes to people that do not work in our company, but if you are interested and have somebody perfect for a role here in mind, contact us.

I love what I do now, but I would also like to improve my skills in other technologies; what are your views on that?

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For now, our company specializes in Elixir technology on the backend side of web development, but on the front side, we are open to many technologies, both new and classic. If you wish to pursue a career in functional languages and technologies, applying here is the best idea. We are always eager to help our developers improve their journey to new and exciting skills and knowledge. We are always happy to help by being transparent, supportive and providing resources.

What should I do if I want to apply for two positions?

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If you feel you are an excellent fit for more than one role within our community, simply apply for the ones you chose. We are reviewing all the applications separately and by hand to notice all the talents you bring to the table. Feel free to apply for as many roles as you like.

I have a hectic life and chaotic schedule - is there any possibility of working around that?

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There is definitely a way. We are working 80% asynchronous, which means that when you join us, you have a full possibility to create your schedule of work in a way it fits your different hobbies, responsibilities and much-needed rest. We offer fully remote or office-based work, but the choice is yours.

The flexible working time is a must in our way of working. That being said, of course, very often we have to work together, then you have to be able to connect your schedule with other colleagues so you can meet and create something cooperatively. You can work on your own terms as long as you understand that other people also have flexible schedules.

8 questions in About Curiosum

Why should I choose you and not hire my own Software Development team?

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If you care about software organized in an agile way to implement your project and idea - leave it to us - software production experts. If you have the appropriate financial resources, knowledge of how to recruit the right team and time for developing the application - you can bet on your team.

Read about software development outsourcing and if you have doubts which form of sourcing you should choose, arrange a consultation with us - we will help you make the right decision for your project.

What is Curiosum's mission?

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Our mission is to build the best products possible inside the framework the client sets up. We help partners achieve their goals through staying cohesive and competitive, with latest tech always in our arsenal.

Where are you located?

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Our company is headquartered in Poznań, Poland. Thanks to our operation in Central European Time, we are in constant contact with our clients from all over the world.

What can Curiosum help me with?

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We are the partner of choice for companies that want the highest performance and expertise in custom software development and outsourcing, web & mobile application development and software consulting. Check out our services.

Do you provide any services apart from Software Development?

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In addition to web & mobile software development, we also provide IT consulting services. If you are in the process of changing the software technology in your team, you are wondering which technology to choose in the project or how to escalate the application from MVP to MMP - we are here for you.

What clients and industries have you worked with?

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We work with companies from various industries from around the world. We work for companies such as Hiro (insurance), Digiforma (elearning) or Lexmarketing (marketing for the legal industry) and many other companies that we cannot mention due to confidential data on cooperation. If you’d like to check what customers say about us, check out our reviews on Clutch and Portfolio.

How long have you been on the market?

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Curiosum was established in 2019. The founders of Curiosum - Szymon Soppa and Michał Buszkiewicz have over 10 years of experience in mobile & web software development. Get to know us more by clicking on about us.

Do you have any testimonials from satisfied customers?

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You can check the opinions and testimonials of our clients on Clutch and in Portfolio on our website. You can find interviews with our clients on our blog.

16 questions in Software Development Process

How long will it take you to create my application?

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Usually, when we talk about creating an application from scratch, we encourage you to use the MVP method, which we support. In this methodology, the most important thing is to validate the business idea as soon as possible, so usually the first version of the application should be created within a few months of starting the cooperation.

There are some dependencies on how quickly such a version can be created, but these are the variables that depend on the individual project of the application.

There are projects where the time horizon is known in advance. We know that a specific set of functions is to be created for the client and this is where our cooperation ends. The most common examples of such applications are applications for specific corporate processes.

In the case of SaaS applications, the situation is quite different, because some functions are constantly refined, application development is a constant process that may not stop as long as the application lives for the user.

What if I come to you with a product that I want to improve?

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That’s what we’re here for. Contact us via e-mail or the contact form and let’s arrange an online meeting during which we will discuss the functionalities you would like to improve.

How do we create a product with you?

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After receiving your message via <a href=”mailto:contact@curiosum.com”>email</a> or the contact form, we will offer you an online meeting where you will tell us about your idea. To make an appointment, please click here.

During the conversation, we will ask you to tell us about the product and its requirements. You can prepare for this meeting assuming how many people you need, how quickly the application should be created (whether it is ASAP or you just doing some research), and what the budget is for its development.

If you need to consult an investor, we are at your disposal to answer each of your questions at several meetings before starting possible cooperation.

Are you able to double the size of the team involved in the project if the need arises?

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As a company, we want to grow along with the needs of our clients, so whenever there is a need to increase the team of programmers involved in the project, we are able to propose new developers or even recruit directly to the specific needs of the application.

How do you guarantee product quality?

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We rely on the processes that work, which we have had the opportunity to test in many projects. These processes include appropriate project management and the care of an experienced developer. When we add a new software developer to a project, it is a person properly prepared and checked by us in terms of soft and technical skills, both at the stage of the recruitment process and internal training.

How can I be sure you work at my project as much as you declare?

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All our developers focusing on your project settle their working time through the Clockify. Thanks to this system, as a customer, you have the knowledge of how much time has been spent on each of the tasks.

Should I create a mobile or a web app?

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In short - it depends :) The main factor in which you should consider whether to make a mobile or web app is your business plan and the functions that such an app should spend. If you would like to create a custom CRM for your company, it is not necessary to create a mobile version of the application for such a product. However, if you are preparing SaaS for a B2C client, you should consider the mobile app or both. Remember that we can help you dispel your doubts about this decision through consultation.

I want to be involved in the application development process. Do you have something against?

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Our clients are updated on project progress during cyclic online meetings. For some of our clients, we complement the in-house team, so involvement in the application development process is natural and obvious as we become an integral part of the team.

Will development include the creation of prototypes and demo versions that I can try out?

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Through the MVP approach, you have access to the functionality of the application at every stage. MVP is characterized by the fact that subsequent parts and functions of the application are created in iterations. Each of the completed iterations is presented to the group of recipients, thanks to which you can receive feedback about the application.

Will my observations concerning the prototypes be factored into the final version?

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MVP is associated with an iterative approach and after each iteration is validated, which means that after each implementation of the next application feature, it should be handed over to the client and target audience. The final version of the application should be one that has been tested after each iteration and is the version for which the application works, functions and meets the expectations of the recipients.

What do I need to know before contacting you?

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During the first contact regarding the creation of a web & mobile application, we will ask you about the purpose of the application and the market to which it is to be dedicated.

We will ask you about the usability of the application and the business model in which the application is to be created. An important issue when talking about cooperation is information about your plan for the development of the application. You will surely be asked about the design of the application - visual and functional. This is not a requirement of our cooperation, but we want to know your assumptions.

Apart from these questions, we will ask you about the budget for the implementation of the application and the project deadline.

Do I need to be tech-savvy to cooperate with you and order a software application?

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As the founder of a startup or SaaS application, you don’t have to be a tech-savvy person. It happens that the founders of big businesses are only their originators and investors, and the technical part of the application is outsourced to software houses such as Curiosum.

If you do not know technology, and you have an idea and resources to create an application, contact us, that’s what we are here for! We are sure that you will learn more about the technology as the application develops and if you have questions about technology during the project - we are here to explain these processes.

Are there any reasons why you chose those particular technologies?

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We had a couple years of experience developing applications in Ruby & Ruby on Rails. It’s a tech that gained a lot of popularity in startups environment back in early 2000’s. Big companies like Twitter or Airbnb started with it, and were able to deliver MVP fast, but then failed to scale it. We want both sides - fast pace of development, and scalability, That’s how we started our journey with Elixir.

Elixir allows you do do things fast, but also, as soon as your app hit the scale - the app will scale as well. Isn’t it best case scenario?

On frontend side though, we wanted something stable and widely adopted. It’s always HTML, CSS and JavaScript under the hood, but with the help of React & React Native, we are also able to develop highly interactive applications at ease. It’s also worth mentioning that mastering React, helps us in React Native development as well. It’a a win-win.

In addition to React, we have also Vue.js experts on board, which is yet another tech, that dominated the frontend side of things.

What happens after you finish my app?

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If your application belongs to the iternal ones with specific functions and we have met your expectations - you can enjoy its new features :) If you have an idea for its further development - feel free to contact us about its continuation.

If, on the other hand, it is a SaaS application that you intend to improve, you need to prepare for long-term collaboration, and the maintenance of such an application may not be completed as long as the application lasts.

What technology do you use?

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We concentrate on a specific tech stack on the backend and frontend side, because we feel that it’s important to master given technology first, and only then offer it as a service to the clients.

Our backend is entirely based on Elixir programming language, with an amazing Phoenix web framework. You can read more about the benefits of using these here.

On the frontend side, we use the common technologies: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript with the following frameworks: React, React Native and Vue.js. Thanks to these libraries, we can cover almost all of the challenges that modern frontend web development faces.

Apart from the above-mentioned languages and frameworks, we also have an experience with:
PostgreSQL
GraphQL
Elasticsearch
Ruby & Ruby on Rails (but only to port it to Elixir & Phoenix)
AWS

Extended Development Team is not like hiring in-house developers

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By working with a software agency like ours, you can get a team of developers that is just as good as an in-house team but at a fraction of the cost. However, it is worth noting that working with an agency differs from hiring in-house developers. We are not a recruitment company but a software development agency that will be happy to discuss the technical aspects of the project with you, but we employ our employees. Therefore, we guarantee the quality of their work.

You will not have direct control over the developers and need to trust us, as your service provider agency, to manage the team. The process of starting cooperation can look like this: first, identify what expertise is needed on the project. After that, request a meeting with us. During the meeting, we will tell you about the techniques and approaches we prefer to use when solving various problems. We understand it’s essential to check the developer’s experience and skills and assess their soft skills, like communication and teamwork. Still, our developers will not join your recruitment processes.

After deciding, we will define detailed expectations regarding the collaboration - from daily check-ins to delivery deadlines. Doing so will help avoid misunderstandings and unrealistic expectations down the road.

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