Experience
What awaits you as a newbie at trivago?
If you’re reading this article, you’re most likely one of these: you’re looking for more information about our company before you submit your application, you’ve already applied, you’re already in the recruitment process, or you’ve received your job offer! Whichever one applies to you, we’re happy to tell you what to expect once you decide to join us.
Moving to Germany
First things first – your boldest step as a newbie will be to move to Germany! As you may know, trivago’s headquarters is located in Düsseldorf and we love being able to occasionally bring all of our talents together at our campus in the city’s media harbour. We know that relocating can be nerve-wracking, but you don’t have to worry – many of our talents went through this phase and have come to love their lives here. Best believe you’re not alone. Our team is hands-on and will help you with your visa process (for those of you coming from outside Europe), provide information on how to find accommodation and settle down.
We understand that you might be wondering why we prefer everyone who joins to move to Germany. Our core reasons, beyond administrative details, are that we believe in the importance of personal exchange and collaboration, both from a human and a professional point of view.
Bringing our 800+ talents from over 80 nationalities together at our campus at least once a month really makes a difference. Being able to work with such an international group of people everyday and gaining new perspective is valuable not only for our working culture, but also in shaping our product to successfully serve millions of users. This way, we can keep the trivago culture and spirit alive, but still offer a lot of flexibility to spend the majority of your time working and focusing from home.
trivago Checkin week
Now that you’ve arrived here to start your job, what comes next? A week of introduction into our company culture, values, leadership team, product and strategy. While it’s traditionally referred to as orientation, onboarding or induction week, we call it “checkin week”. One of the best parts of this week is that you get to meet fellow newbies who are going through the same notions as you.
In the second part of the week, you’ll dive deeper into our product by attempting some challenges, together with other groups of newcomers. These are real cases that different teams deal with on a regular base and it’s a great opportunity for you to get insight into what they work on while stretching your own brain muscles a bit.
The more social side of checkin week includes team-building activities and lunch with your lead and other team members which helps you to build strong relationships from the very start.
Team Onboarding
Once your checkin week is over, you’re almost ready to jump into your work at trivago! The next step will be an onboarding period with your lead and team that can range from one week to longer, depending on the team and your specialization. During this time, you’ll learn more about your job and how it contributes to your team’s goals, the different tools you’ll use, and the processes your team follows to reach their unit goals.
The first few weeks can be overwhelming with lots of information and we understand this. It’s absolutely normal! Don’t worry, because over the course of a few months, you’ll get the hang of it and learn how to navigate your way around. We’ve all been through it and you’ll have tons of support along the way.
Three Months In
What is more, three months into your journey, you’ll receive feedback from your peers and lead on how you’re performing in your new role, which is a great way to identify your strengths and improvement areas. This is because we believe a constructive assessment of your contributions can only help you identify where you have space to further develop and grow during your time here. This feedback session also allows you express your opinion on what is working for you and how else we can support your development plans. You’ll end up leaving the 360° session ready to challenge yourself!
Now that your onboarding is over, you’re ready to start your trivago experience – congratulations and welcome!
Welcome to Life at trivago
Something to keep in mind: At trivago we believe that everyone should decide how to organize their working hours as long as their goals are met. Whether it’s a session in the gym or a workout in one of our sports classes, a walk on our rooftop running track or a coffee break at the barista, what you do during your work hours doesn’t matter, as long as you get your job done!
Other perks you can expect are our Fridays (subject to COVID regulations) where we get together to enjoy live music on our BBQ terrace, quarterly company events where you get to connect with people from across the whole company and monthly team events that range from activities like bowling, dinner, laser tag to ceramic painting and beyond. All of this will allow you to feel 100% part of our community and have the opportunity to experience so much in your time with this.
We hope this gives you a good overview of what it means to be a trivago newbie! All that is left to say is that we wish you the best of luck if you decide to send your application and we hope to have you with us soon!
Written by recent newcomer, Luca, and our onboarding specialist, Ololade.
