Starting as a Project Owner Graduate at Motius — A Recap After the First 3 Months

So you graduated from Uni — congrats! The world is yours, go out and conquer it. But what exactly comes next now…? How about starting as a Project Owner (= Product Owner meets Project Manager). In this article, we wrap up the experiences from 3 months of Project Owner Graduate Program at Motius and lay down why it is easy to say it’s the best, yes the very best, next step in the life of a graduate.

May we introduce ourselves: We are Arberie, Lennart and Ehsan, the new Project Owner Graduates at Motius! We just finished our M. Sc. in Business Administration (Arberie), M. Sc. Management & Technology (Lennart) and M. Sc. Medical Imaging & Data Processing (Ehsan), and will spill the beans on how we decided to join Motius and what our experiences within the Graduate Program has been like. So, is it just buzzword bingo or the real deal?

The Million Dollar Question: Which Is the Right Job for Me?

Phew, we aren’t wasting any time with easy questions here, are we? But no worries, we got some pretty neat advice for you. After having successfully finished our master’s degree, we naturally all were on the lookout for the right place to start our professional career. This is how it went along.

Be strategic aka Arberie’s approach:

Although I had already gained a lot of practical experience during various internships and working student positions, it turned out to be a big decision for me to choose where to start my first full-time position. After many conversations with friends and former colleagues, and many nights of short sleep thinking about where to go and what to do, I realized that there were three aspects that mattered to me for it to be the perfect place to work.

So, I made a list and I’m going to share it with you:

1. Innovative Tech environment contributing to sustainable value creation
2. People first culture: i.e. flat hierarchies, and a positive work atmosphere
3. Opportunities to grow: i.e. facing challenges, gaining new responsibilities, freedom to act, empowering supervisors

During my search, I came across a LinkedIn job offer by Motius. And as if fate had planned it, it seemed to unite all the three things I was looking for. A friend of mine who knew the company confirmed that. I believed him and so: I sent an application and got a response within the hour. What followed were three different stages of the application process within the next 2 weeks. After, I promptly received an offer and signed it. That’s how the journey began.

Don’t Forget Your Gut Feeling

“I actually went with my gut feeling when I decided to join Motius. A good friend of mine worked here and after having some really interesting conversations with other Motees during the application process I just felt very excited about starting as a Project Owner at Motius.” (Lennart)

About the Project Owner Graduate Program

Now that the decision has been made and contracts have been signed, what’s to expect next? During the past three months, we had the opportunity to learn more about Motius as a company and experience the role of the Project Owner Graduate. We’ll share some of my impressions in the following paragraphs, so grab a fresh cup of coffee and tune in.

First of all, what is a Project Owner? We define a Project Owner, or PrO as we call it at Motius, as a combination of Product Owner and Project Management responsibilities. But time after time PrOs act as Scrum Masters, Solution Architects, Consultants, Account Executives, or even Entrepreneurs.

As Project Owner you are always at the interface between new product development in agile scrum teams and customer communication. Therefore, being a Project Owner at Motius certainly means balancing the tightrope walk by bringing together different perspectives which can be challenging but also provides a feeling of satisfaction once achieved. Thanks to Motius empowering culture, this journey is adventurous and calls for entrepreneurial spirits.

“I was looking for a role that is the bridge between engineering and business. Somewhere I could learn and where I could grow from my engineering background into a business perspective.” (Ehsan)

The Project Owner Graduate Program can be compared to a trainee program aimed at recent graduates. However, it is not about moving around across departments. The Graduate Program is all about you starting to become the best PrO version of yourself.

The possibilities are cosmic and it is really up to you, your preferences and your strengths where and how to engage.

“As a Graduate PrO at Motius you always have to think and work interdisciplinary. But I preferably work on Software projects. Particularly if there is a medical focus, because that’s what my master thesis was about. So I’m pretty passionate about that.” (Lennart)

During the first weeks of the Graduate Program, you will get the chance to “shadow” different projects. You attend Scrum events, watch how projects start, mature, and become closed, how challenges of technical or organizational nature are overcome, ideate and brainstorm over new solutions…. And gradually you grow into anchored roles.

“I, for example, organized retrospectives, facilitated some meetings, and controlled the budget, which helped me learn by doing it in a safe environment and with the support of experienced PrOs.” (Arberie)

If you want to know more about the onboarding process at Motius, not only for Graduate Project Owner but every single Motee — look no further, check out this recent blog post!

Now That You Know What We Expected — Here’s What We Got!

Remember, Arberie had pretty clear expectations? Well, this is her assessment after the first three months:

Opportunities to grow, taking responsibilities, and having an empowering supervisor who gets the best out of me… What can I say? Can you name a job where you lead teams before having grey hair? Me neither. I view the Project Owner Graduate role as a unique opportunity to take over responsibility early on in my development. In agile environments challenges come up naturally, but they are solved the very same way. The combination of hard tasks and a supportive environment is the setup in which I have noticeably grown.

As mentioned, I was looking for an innovative tech environment. On the first day, we had an office tour where we saw AR projects, AGVs driving around, 3D printers printing stuff, fancy high-tech bikes being built — there even was an AI-enhanced industry oven. The incarnation of Tech buzzwords. But bear with me, developing early phase technology is deeply rooted within Motius. And projects always aim at contributing to sustainable value creation by becoming follow-up projects, becoming products, or even becoming Spin-Offs. At Motius you work with cutting edge technologies, while collaborating with market leaders like BMW, Allianz or MTU. Which is pretty cool, because it helps building your own network as a young professional.

I was also looking forward to meeting bright people and make lasting connections, be it through interesting conversations or having fun together over some Friday drinks. As soon as I joined Motius, everyone, from PrOs to Engineers and Founders, approached me for a lunch date and I’m meeting amazing people every day.

Another expectation was the culture. Every Friday, a so-called “Progress Board” takes place, which is compareable with an all-hands meeting. During Progress Board the achievements of the past week are presented and new Motees are introduced. I was overwhelmed by the atmosphere in the room during this session. We also had a pub quiz and there is even self-brewed beer in the office.

Sounds like something you would like to do? Then this is your lucky day, because we are currently looking for new Graduate PrOs! So check out our open Graduate Project Owner position and send us an application.

Let’s Talk About What’s Worth a ‘Double Tap’

What’s really a worth a double-tap (or a swipe right): Breakfast Sessions, Coffee Dates, Onboarding Buddies, table tennis champions league, purpose-driven task forces (e.g. sustainability at the office initiative), Operation Christmas Child packing party, an Advent raffle… The list goes on, but our impression stays: Our culture is what the people make out of it, and the people make it pretty awesome!

“I was looking for a multicultural company — and Motius definitely ticks that box.” (Eshan)

Another takeaway after our first months here: Company culture also means international culture at Motius. So be prepared to meet people from all over the world, because we did, and it makes working here extra fun.

Without revealing too much (we want you to stay curious), here is another blog post about Motius company culture.

Arberies Top 5 Takeaways to Help You With Your Journey:

1. Make a list of what you value in a job → Prioritise and consider the most important things.
2. Don’t stress out → There are no wrong decisions.
3. Cut yourself slack → Give yourself time, enjoy all the new experiences, and try to have fun with the challenges you’ll encounter.
4. Don’t hesitate to seek help → Feel free to share challenges and problems you face with your supervisor and colleagues. They will definitely guide you to finding the right solution.
5. Get ready to get techie → Technology is ever-present at Motius. As PrO, you do not need to be Gyro Gearloose, but stepping up your tech game won’t hurt.