Humans
trivago tales in depth: Meet Marissa
“Life at trivago, where do I begin! My time at trivago has been a whirlwind of adventure and learning. It all started at a German university course back in the US, where I met my good friend Ellie. We had always spoken about our shared dream to live and work abroad one day. When she recommended me for a role at trivago’s headquarters in Düsseldorf, Germany, just a few years later, I could hardly contain my excitement.
At the time, I had recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in International Communication. I also just completed an academic year abroad at Goethe Universität in Frankfurt am Main. I loved my time studying abroad and was looking for a way to continue my ventures abroad. When Ellie told me about her job at trivago, an organization of talents operating in 55 global markets, I immediately knew it was the right place for me too. I fell in love with the idea of being part of an inspiring and diverse environment that allows me to have an impact and develop.
Today I work in User Support, assisting trivago users from all corners of the globe. What I love most about my job is that I have the opportunity to help out our users in meaningful ways and speak with them about their struggles first hand. My goal is to advocate for the user’s needs and leave them with a good impression of our fantastic organization. I fully understand our users’ pain points and regularly funnel the most in-demand product features internally. It’s been especially rewarding to be able to assist users and help expedite their requests during this difficult time.
I also run communication initiatives within the team in efforts to maximize our daily communication. For instance, I create handy texts for the team and facilitate translations across 20+ languages. Furthermore, I monitor web page analytics for our FAQ pages to better understand the best content that addresses our users’ needs. I then base team communication initiatives and suggest improvements based on this information. #powerofproof
While this is not my primary role, I love that trivago invests time and money to help me further develop in my career. I’m able to apply the knowledge I’ve learned in online courses sponsored by trivago as well as in-house workshops. Aside from that, we are an organization of talents with a diversity of skills, perspectives, and experiences. I enjoy collaborating with other talents to get their view on specific tasks. For instance, I’ve worked with trivago designers to create templates for our emails across 79 browser-device combinations. On a more personal note, I’ve always admired how entrepreneurial our talents are. Many of us run businesses on the side. For instance, check out our very own Katherine Sparshatt’s success story about founding a luxury chair business.
I’ve had the fantastic opportunity to team up with software engineers to learn how to build my travel blog from scratch. Also, I’ve worked with content marketing experts to brainstorm marketing campaigns and how to take social marketing efforts to the next level. I’ve been able to grow and further develop my skillset from these interactions and broaden my network.
It’s safe to say that I’ve met real friends for life at trivago. Some of the best memories are from travels to Egypt, Mallorca, and India with fellow talents.
I remember a few of us girls discussed how cool it would be to visit the Egyptian pyramids one day over a casual lunch. And just like that, we found ourselves boarding a plane and seeing them in front of our own eyes just a few weeks later. To this day, the three of us agree that it was a trip for the books that bonded us forever.
But my story is not unique. trivago is a community of many movers and shakers looking to get more out of life.
Recently a friend asked me what the luckiest thing to ever happen to me was. Without hesitation, I answered: having the opportunity to work for an organization that reflects my own personal values alongside people that feel like family.”
– Marissa, User Support
