1) How did your Coordea Journey start?
It all started almost 8 years ago; I was told about this opportunity in some company called Coordea. I didn’t know anything about Coordea at that time, but still, I thought I should give it a try. I sent my CV and portfolio I was proud of and got the call. I never regretted my decision.
2) Why did you choose to become a graphic designer?
I guess I knew that I should do something creative, but somehow I ended up in a completely different direction. I remember thinking that Graphic Design is not a smart career choice for me so I went to Computer Science, which you must agree was smart, but smart is not always the right thing, I never found myself there. I realized that I made the wrong decision somewhere around the end of my first semester at the university. Nevertheless, I finished the studies but used every free time working to improve my skills as a graphic designer. I must say a big thanks to Dragi Nedelchevski (known photographer) who introduced me to Photoshop and gave me basic tips on how to create things.
3) What were your expectations of Coordea before you joined the team?
To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect, I came unprepared when it comes to Coordea. I was happy to get a proper job at that time and just wanted to leave a mark as a professional graphic designer. I remember the first time I came to the Tetovo office, back then it was a small one with only four people working. I was surprised to see Vladimir, Marina and Dushica there which I knew from before, so I knew that this would be a fun place to work. Goce was the only one I didn’t know much about; he gave me a small presentation about the client I had to work for and showed me some designed brochures and catalogues they are using. They offered me a job with a test period, so they can see if I will be a good fit. And suddenly I was here with the point to make, a man who needs to prove himself. It wasn’t long before they called me and told me they are happy, and they will give me a new job agreement.
4) Has there been anything that surprised you about working at Coordea?
Coordea ¨found¨ a wife for me, for which I’m really happy, and now we are proud parents of a beautiful baby girl. Many people would expect a raise, big bonus, or maybe a little gift but not a life companion. It was great from Coordea to hire Zage, and I’m really thankful for that.
5) What is the hardest part of being a young manager and tell us a bit about your team?
There are challenges all the time, I don’t know if I could classify it as a hard thing to do because I always find those challenges as opportunities to get better. Things out of the comfort zone are the ones that make you better. When it comes to the second part of the question, we are a team of three people, including me, and it’s a really positive group of people. Accidentally, we ended up being diverse in our working skills which as a team gave us the benefit of covering variety of work tasks. There is Nenad, who has big experience in pre-press and a phenomenal guy doing branding and product presentations. Also Besnik, who is the newest member of the group, young and vibrant person, exceptional with camera, and maestro when it comes to video editing. And of course, there is me, who does the rest of the boring work that nobody else wants to do. 🙂
6) What motivates you? Where do you find your inspiration?
We do a lot of print materials and because of the distant markets we work for, much of the time we don’t see the result printed out as it was meant to be. Luckily the client we work for organizes this annual event where we are invited and get the opportunity to see our work and talk to people who are using our services. It’s always good when you hear people appreciate the job you are doing, and they are really happy with it. So, knowing that people are satisfied with our innovations and projects we work on, motivates and inspires me.
7) What is your biggest accomplishment at Coordea that you’re most proud of? There are a lot of things that made me proud during my time here, many times are small things, projects we took to do and ended up looking really good. I would bring the work home and open it on different devices so I can watch the result on different screens, I would stare at the screen for days. But it must be the “Employee of the Year” award I received from the client I work for, if I have to choose one. I was really happy about it. I had never expected that I will win that, it made me really proud and motivated to do an even better job than I was doing by then.”
8) Give me a weird fact about you?
I’m an audiophile, which is a term I recently came across to. There are different definitions for it, but for me, the most accurate would be “Someone who appreciates the quality of the sound while experiencing music”. Sometimes I’m more fascinated about how the music sounds rather than the music itself, which makes me a person who doesn’t think there are expensive headphones or sound systems rather than the one who I can’t afford.
9) What advice would you give a job seeker who’s thinking about applying for a job with us?
Take initiative, show that you care about what you do, and be clear on where you want to be. Knock on the door and present yourself instead of waiting for an invitation. Be proud of who you are and what you are capable of, not always the best fit gets the job. Take me for example. I wasn’t the best fit for the job, I didn’t have the education for the job position, not a proper experience as well, but I got hired and I became successful at my job. My point is, I came to Coordea and presented myself as a graphic designer, I believed that I can do this job, that I can help them be better. I came and said I can do everything they asked for, even though some of the things I have never done before.
