All the A’s for your Q’s
Hi there, my name is Katarina and I’m the People Manager at FatCat Coders. Since I've been here quite a while, I gather and answer the most common questions about FatCat Coders.
Yes, FatCat Coders supports remote work for many of our roles. We believe in flexibility and choosing work environments that enable our team to perform at their best. Specific arrangements can vary by role and department.
The net working hours refer to a six-hour workday, amounting to 30 productive hours during a typical workweek. Breaks are not counted in six working hours, but employees can have as many breaks during the day. There's great flexibility in organizing work and breaks, allowing for a variety of schedules that accommodate personal needs and preferences. We accommodate the productive time according to the tools and software necessary for your role.
We use a time-tracking tool that measures time spent on certain applications and websites. If these are work-related (e.g., Slack, Google Meet, emails, blogs, etc.), the time counts as productive hours; otherwise, it's considered unproductive. We do not record the person or take screenshots. Employees can check all productive and non-productive hours at any time within the application.
During breaks, you can choose whether to turn it off or not (the app will track extended computer inactivity and won't count those hours as productive). Importantly, there's no need for daily reports or logging of what work was done.
The app can track time on all the applications and tools necessary for our work. Additionally, anyone can propose additional sites and tools to be added and tracked for productivity.
It's rare for anyone to forget to turn on the app as it quickly becomes a routine. However, if it occurs or if you have a meeting in the office, you can manually enter that time. Simply log the date and time you want to count as productive in the app, and it will be approved by your Manager.
If, for any reason, an employee has fewer project responsibilities and more free time, we expect them to communicate this to their People Manager and Tech Lead. This is important because other colleagues may need assistance, or the employee can use this time for training and development, or even for rest.
Our official working hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and this is the time when most of our colleagues will be online. However, we have the freedom to organize our work schedule according to our personal needs. One day, an employee can work four hours, and the next day they can work for eight hours, as long as they have 132* productive hours by the end of the month.
*Hours may vary depending on the month's working days.
Working at FatCat is unique and we recognize the way we work at the moment is not for everyone. To succeed and advance at FatCat, it's essential to be proactive and take ownership. You might find work here challenging if you are not:
Used to challenging projects - our staff from the first week is taking on important tasks and they start working on projects. Our vetting period is incorporated with real work, there are no testing\vetting tasks. There is more responsibility to it, but also a great chance to study.
Willing to learn - as a small company, we have changes regarding responsibilities and scope of work. With the aim that our people should always develop and grow, it is also highly encouraged that you are constantly learning.
Ready to give up repetitive tasks - many companies require you to achieve certain KPIs and help your company to grow in that way. Once employees achieve a certain level of expertise in one field we give our best to give them tasks that are more challenging for them.
Like responsibility - flexibility is a benefit at FatCat Coders. However, it is also a responsibility. If you are not comfortable with owning your responsibilities, and having the freedom to organize your time to fulfill them – then FCC is not a great option for you.
Agile, but for real- Being a very creative, driven organization, it’s not uncommon to find decisions and minds being changed on projects, strategy and other work in favor of new ideas or better solutions.
Taking initiative and hiding behind metrics - it is expected to fulfill certain expectations, but we are encouraging you to go beyond them. We do not prefer people who are only focused on fulfilling the set goals, but the ones who challenge them and are to give their own initiatives.
Comfortable with transparency and feedback - we want all our employees to have honest feedback that can be useful for their personal career development. In our performance reviews and performance plans, we tend to be rather honest (and useful for both hard and soft-skill development ) and that is what we expect from you. No sugarcoating!
Good with startup atmosphere, and you prefer corporate environment – FatCat Coders do not have strict rules or clear policies on certain topics, as is common in most of the big corporations. Our team members collaborate on daily level, and our teams collaborate with each other as well. We cherish cooperation, friendliness and direct communication with each other.
What do you do if there is no project?
If there’s a period with no projects employees will switch to the internal FatCat projects. In case of less intensive work, it’s expected that employees communicate this, since help might be needed elsewhere, or it could be an opportunity for education, or even rest. It’s essential to keep the Tech Lead or People Manager informed about the decrease in workload.
The developers at FatCat are all proficient in JavaScript, and the majority are FullStacks as well. We use React, ReactNative, Nodejs, Next.js, Nest.js, AWS, Postgres, MongoDB, Docker, Contentful, Redis, GraphQL, Terraform, etc.