Two years into living in Germany, with my barely conversation-level German, I started working at Afilio, a Berlin-based, fully German-speaking company, in late 2023. I heard about them through my friend already working there. They told me about an inviting workspace vibe: one of trust, communication, freedom and responsibility. Now I'm one of the 9 tech people at Afilio — and I have a friend at work! The language is definitely a challenge, but this job has given me a lot of space to practice and improve.
Most of what we do here revolves around making paperwork in Germany — of which there is a needlessly absurd, surreal amount — less overwhelming for people, especially for the elderly and their family who need to sort things out around topics like medical care and inheritance. It's an interesting area, and I am all for proactively helping everyday people when the state is failing them — even if done in the bounds of a for-profit organization.
I get to work with a bunch of cool and easy-going people with all sorts of different skill sets, on keeping our web app one that does a lot, but manages to stay simple. There aren't teams designated to a certain area of the product, instead the part I have to discover and improve can change from month to month.