Interview on friendly army#2 -High Commitment Crews-
Introduction
The interview on the friendly army is a project to help you understand us more objectively than the entry by talking about JUNGLEˣ and the full-time crew. This is the second edition.
In the last article, we presented an interview on university student crews. In this article, we present an interview on four of our friendly army, who have highly committed to their work in JUNGLEˣ. Please take a look.
Participants
Yifan(Y): graphic designer
(Main job: designer for a large SaaS company)
Nasa(N): data analyst
(Main job: data analyst for a telecommunications carrier)
Kirk(K): software engineer
(Main job: freelance software engineer)
Zorro(Z): data analyst
(Main job: new business development for a large SaaS company)
Encounter with JUNGLEˣ to the decision to join as a friendly army
Y: I got a long message on the side job/career change platform I registered. It was carefully written, so I thought I'd like to talk to JUNGLEˣ. During the interview, they clearly explained what they were expecting from me, and I felt that I could play an active role, so I decided to join the team.
-I thought we sent you a long letter, but were there any specific points that made you decide to take the interview?
Y: The key point that made me feel that it would be easy for me to work there, both in writing and in the interviews, was that rather than technical design skills, they asked and confirmed my ideas about design, my favorite artists, and what kind of logic I use in designing.
N: I also received a very long text via the agency website. And then after checking out the corporate and promotional websites, I decided to take the interview because the product looked interesting. In terms of the technical part, I felt that it would help me improve my skills, as many of the skill sets used seemed to experienced.
I decided to join the team because of the enthusiasm they sent the long letter, the interest in the product, and the nature of the work.
-What exactly did you find interesting about our product?
N: First of all, the subject of betting was unusual and sounded interesting. Also, many of the products I had experienced in the past utilised social data, so I decided to join because I thought that utilising data from consumer-oriented products would also be interesting and provide me with experience.
K: I received a long letter via the platform as well. When I received the offer, I didn't know anything about JUNGLEˣ itself or sports betting, so I googled them and thought it sounded interesting, and accepted the interview.
-I remember that Kirk formally decided to join the group at the second interview, a little time after the first interview. What was your thinking at that time?
K: When the first interview, I was already involved in two freelance projects, and if I also joined the JUNGLEˣ project, I would have had three projects. At first, I got involved in a small project with a light heart but found the project so interesting that I decided to let go of the one I was already working on. I've enjoyed developing the project so much that I think it was the right choice. So I feel like I'm doing it simply because it looks interesting.
When Panja asked me, "Are you outstanding?" at the first interview, I shrank.
Z: I don't remember much, but somewhere I saw a Note by PdM's Mutta on KPI decomposition for game apps, and I thought he was a high-resolution PdM, so I applied for the interview form.
I remember looking into JUNGLEˣ before and after that and thinking it was an unfamiliar website. But I thought the sports betting sounded interesting, so when I attended the interview, I had eager to join the team, even from the side-job crew.
-It may indeed be an unfamiliar website, but what made Zorro feel interesting and apply?
Z: Three things stuck out to me: firstly, among the web3 companies, I thought that JUNGLEˣ was finally a genuine company that could grow globally; secondly, their business was moving society in a positive direction; and thirdly, after watching the pitch videos, I thought that JUNGLEˣ was an organization with high potential to achieve what it set out to achieve.
Impressions of Junglers
Y: I thought Panja was a bit weird in my research from the moment I received the message until the interview. This is not often the case, but, after the meeting, I thought he was really weird yet. I thought so because of the Zoom background and the hegemony of Panja's turn in the conversation. But after the interview, I had the chance to read Panja's book, and when I read it, his background and what he wrote stuck with me, and now I think he is a very reasonable person. I feel that they are very polite in their work, writing, and language towards M and Ted, with whom they have a lot of practical involvement.
-What made you decide to join the group instead of going crazy after getting the impression that he was weird?
Y: Because I felt that the other crews didn't hate him. I also felt that what he said directly to me and the role he was looking for me to play made me feel like he had a good understanding of what I was thinking.
N: I have only met Panja once, but at the online interview, he was walking around Ishigaki Island at the time. The blue sky and sea were in the background, and my impression was that
he was a very crazy person.
I think Mutta, who I work with, is widely regarded to project as a PdM, but he is very detailed. I feel that he is a manager who has a clear image of what he wants to do and has a high level of resolution. I think he is easy to work with.
K: When I first looked at the website, I had the feeling that the rest of the crew would be better than me, and that's the impression I got when I started working here. I am definitely not an educated person among Junglers, and I have been an engineer with a wild spirit, but somehow Panja approached me. And when I joined, my first impression was that they were all excellent people as I expected.
-What are some of your new impressions from the collaboration and the most recent offline meetings?
K: I think all Junglers are weird. But I think that's a good thing, and there is a point where history proves that. I feel that Panja embodies the fact that an organization that gathers only homogeneous people will be weak, and an organization that gathers full of weird people will be solid. I think what's on the website is well realized, not just in text and ideas.
Z: Panja was the first weird person I'd seen in about 10 years in terms of weirdness. I felt so because he was out of his mind and his words didn't catch up with his thoughts. But what he says is understandable, reasonable, and correct. I think he is also a pleasant person to put out, including how he interacts with society and organizes himself. And I feel through Mutta that the culture of hard work is more solid and hardworking than I thought.
Expectations and motivation for working with JUNGLEˣ and future career path
Y: My motivation for working with JUNGLEˣ is twofold: to be involved in unifying the brand image
and to be involved in building the design system. I think the opportunity to be involved in an organization like JUNGLEˣ that is developing in a slightly different business area, while the way of thinking and the nature of the work makes sense as an organization, is valuable. I think it would be ideal if, within that organization, I could deliver to users a unification of my values and an image that fits with JUNGLEˣ's values, and create something that is easy to create and reproduce one by one, so that users feel good and internal developers can work more efficiently. However, I am still underpowered, so I'll be working on it gradually.
-Is there anything you would like to achieve in your Yifan career in the long run?
Y: I have not looked at my career that long. But in an age when the perception of designers is becoming more and more multifaceted, I would like to create an area as a designer where I can excel and help various people grow in their businesses through design.
N: Skills and money are the main prerequisites, but I think JUNGLEˣ is a high-level environment, and Mutta and Zorro, with whom I am always working, are excellent and stimulating. I hope to become a person with high market value by being in such a highly stimulating environment. As I mentioned earlier, I have no experience working on consumer-oriented products or the business side, so I hope to be involved in the growth of the product from the perspective of data analysis first.
From a long-term perspective, my career goal is to work on the business side, such as starting my own business or creating my products, rather than being an engineer forever. So I would like to be involved in the current app from the release stage to the maturity stage, absorb what I can, and use it to achieve my future goals.
K: My motivation was to surround myself with better people than me. As a freelancer in different teams and companies, I think benefits are about the people you work with. I don't find it so attractive to have a beautiful office or have monetary assistance to buy books. I find it exciting to look up and work hard and learn a lot. Even in JUNGLEˣ, I feel like I'm just side-job crew, but they listen to my opinions, and I'm getting responses, such as the start of Flutter development, which I'm good at.
-Is the long-term direction for you to master software engineering in such an environment?
K: I'm an engineer because it's fun. So if I find something else interesting, I may change jobs. However, I have my vision of increasing the number of people who can pass their time in play because people are not suited to working. I feel that the JUNGLEˣ team has a high chance of achieving this, so I hope to be involved in it in the long term.
Z: I feel that what I am looking for in the short term is surprisingly little. However, I think that for the first product they are releasing, they are trying to do too much work, they are trying to do complex things as a business, and their methods and sales targets are pretty far-fetched.They are trying to achieve goals that would be unthinkable with such an ordinal approach, and I am looking forward to seeing how much I can incorporate that into my skill, and able to take my own measures and analyse the figures to make it happen.
In the long term, similar to Kirk, I would like to see a world where 7-8 billion people around the world can live their lives in their own way and use their talents. And I would like products that realize this to be born in Japan, if possible, and I also hope that this will change people's values in a positive way. And I think JUNGLEˣ has a chance to do that, and I'm really looking forward to it. In my career, I would like to be involved in that with a lot of discretion, and I would like to move in a direction where I have a bird's eye view of the whole business, not just data analysis, and I hope to be in a position like that within JUNGLEˣ.
Who friendly army crews think is a good Jungler
Y: Someone who has a positive attitude towards being weird. I think those who can find their interest in slightly unusual projects are suited to JUNGLEˣ.
N: I think those who can enjoy being different and changing are suited to JUNGLEˣ. Also, they have high-level people here, so if you are not satisfied with being a king of the mountain and want to be in a stimulating environment, I think you would be a good fit.
K: I think someone who could be weird, someone who could be gung-ho about what they wanted to do, but not just that, someone with a sense of balance and aesthetics would be a good fit.
Z: I think aesthetics is important too, and it is also important to have a big vision and wil
l. It's also essential to have a high level of enthusiasm, a big engine. So those who are not satisfied with the status quo, those who want to go further, those who want to achieve something great, and those who can work hard for that, I think, are good.
Conclusion
How was this article?
Through the words of those who have committed to the JUNGLEˣ as a side-job crew, we hope you will have some interest in working in the JUNGLEˣ.
If you are at all interested, we hope you will access our websiteJUNGLEˣ HOME(EN) and be able to understand us more deeply.