George Munteanu thought it would be fun to add a little extra spice to the mindit chats series and he couldn’t think of a better person to bring the heat than our very own Silviu Paunescu.

Ready, set, let’s go!

1. What's something that happened to you that can only happen here? What's a unique part about working here?  

One of the things that really pop out here is the impressive number of extra activities when it comes to social initiatives, environmental causes, and a lot of other charitable actions.  

It’s like mindit.io’s DO GOOD program is a department of its own, judging by the huge volume of initiatives that are organized every month. I know that a lot of companies support certain causes, but I feel that mindit.io goes above and beyond when it comes to giving back to the community.   

2. How have you grown professionally while on our team?

I started here in 2018 and since then I had the opportunity to work with and experience a lot of technologies, I was not familiar with until then. This is yet another thing I would point out as something that’s unique about mindit.io.

The fact that you not only have opportunities to explore new things, but you are also actually encouraged. You can go through several technologies and teams, see what you like, and then pursue that avenue of your career path.

This almost never happens in corporations where you are boxed in your own department and if you want to try new things you have to go through a really bureaucratic process with formal requests and emails and, in the end, you probably still will not wind up doing what you want.  

mindit.io really stands out in this regard!  

3. What was the moment you knew you'd made the right decision to work here?  

I have known Irina Arsene, mindit.io Founder, for a really long time, we worked together side-by-side at the beginning of our careers. I knew I was making the right choice when I gave her a call, telling her that I was interested in joining the mindit.io team.  

I knew things were going to be ok because I know Irina and I know her style and her vision when it comes to running an organization.  

I also knew Lucia Stoicescu (our CEO), Dumitru Pascu (the CTO at that time) and a couple of other people, which greatly added to my decision to be part of this talented team.  

4. What was your best day at work? What are you most proud of?  

I can’t point out something memorable because that’s simply what happens after a certain age. Something memorable and spectacular for me is when everything goes as planned, when everything is normal.  

A good day, in my opinion, is when I get to take care of all the tasks I have planned, without having to deal with emergencies that pop out every now and then.  

For example, if I plan on working on something from 9 AM, I expect to work on that task for a couple of hours, or for how long it takes until getting the task done.

Sometimes, at the end of the day, I have the weird feeling that I didn’t do anything in terms of the tasks I had in mind, but actually, I did a whole lot of other tasks on the side.

So, to conclude, a good day for me is when I get to finish everything, I set myself up to for. When I get no messages for a long period, I even check my Internet connection just to make sure that I’m still online.   

5. What is your team like?

As a permanent trait of all the mindit.io teams, I would have to say that they are all smart, and talented and they are always willing to help.

Whenever you have to ask for help, don’t be surprised if people will immediately jump in to offer it, without offering excuses about how that’s not their job, and how they don’t have the time to investigate your issue.

Everybody has a pleasant vibe and it’s a work environment where we all grow together, and everybody has to gain from this. Both the teams and our partners, because we continuously improve our skills through the knowledge-sharing environment we have built inside mindit.io.

6. Which benefits are your favorite and why?

My favorite benefit offered by mindit.io is the extra vacation days you get after every 2 years of being part of the team. It’s something I really enjoy and appreciate.

minditNomad is another cool benefit, and I also think it’s unique, at least in Romania. Everybody who wants to travel, or who wants to change the scenery can work or enjoy a vacation at any of the minditNomad homes located in Cluj-Napoca, Bucuresti, Constanta, Iasi, Sibiu, or Comarnic.  

7. What’s the one thing you would add or change in mindit.io? 

Fortunately for me, the thing I would have changed, or adapted, has already been changed. There was a period before we finally got adjusted to working fully remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, where we would have a lot of meetings.

They were great for keeping us connected when we couldn’t see each other at the office, but sometimes, the number of calls took up a lot of time.  

However, that got sorted out fast, and today, I can’t point to a thing that I would change at mindit.io.  

8. What advice would you give to anyone thinking about joining mindit.io?

I would simply tell them to come to mindit.io! Come here because it’s a cool work environment. I would recommend applying for a role at mindit.io for all the reasons I talked about above.

You get the chance to grow professionally and explore the technologies that interest you the most, all in the comfort of a friendly and helpful collective. It’s hard to think of a reason why I wouldn’t recommend mindit.io to someone.  

It’s an enjoyable experience for anyone working in IT, so don’t shy away from checking our OPEN POSITIONS right here! There’s no time like the present to make the right move for your career!

9. What movie, book, or TV show would you recommend? How do you relax and unwind? 

I started exploring the investment world. I am really interested in learning the technical aspects of investments, not necessarily what companies to invest in and why.  

Sure, you can say that you place an order for 10 stocks for X company, but it’s not that simple. I am focused on learning everything that happens behind a certain stock market order because the systems behind these operations are extremely complex.  

I also watch a lot of movies and TV shows when I get the time. I recently finished watching The Office which is simply brilliant. Seinfeld is still my no. 1 favorite, but I would have to put The Office somewhere right near it.  

I think I should have watched it while we were still going to the office, before the pandemic, because there was a lot of room for pranks there.  

Anything that’s Star Wars or Marvel-related is definitely on my list as well.

I like to keep myself busy with home improvement and DIY projects. I designed the furniture for one of my rooms and I also designed my home office with a lot of specifics I want it to have because I am always looking to optimize things right and left.    

10. Who would you tag next to be interviewed by us?

I would like to nominate Cristinel Vlad! We have been working closely together a lot and he is a very knowledgeable and straight-to-the-point guy. I like his work style and that’s why I’m offering him this “gift” as a token of my appreciation. Cristi, TAG, you’re it!  

PS. George Munteanu, I’d watch my back around the office from now on. One of these days I’m coming for you! :)