Kimberly Knöbel works as an Atlassian Solutions Engineer at Polygran GmbH in Ulm. Since May 2017, she has been a valuable colleague, especially in the Atlassian team. Since then, she has improved the quality in her own department, helped shape the organizational culture, and continues to spread good vibes throughout the company. In this article, she describes her journey to today, with all the stumbling blocks and motivators that accompanied her to her future goal.

Kimberly Knöbel, our Atlassian Hero at Polygran

Well begun is half done!

Many in my family work in IT. When it was time for me to decide, I chose the same path. So I applied as an IT specialist, originally as a system integrator, but then switched to application development.

During my time in the e-mobility department, I also had my first contact with Atlassian tools. At the time, I set up and managed the Confluence system at my training company and trained the employees in it. After I was hired and gained a year of work experience, I started looking for something new. I really wanted to go deeper into the area of Atlassian tools and looked around for jobs like that. Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything that specific so quickly. Beginners always have to struggle with: How do I get a job? Through experience – How do I get experience? Through a job.

I moved away from Atlassian Tools professionally, but privately I couldn’t let go of them. I also included Atlassian Tools in my Xing profile, under the hobbies section. Out of nowhere, I was contacted by Polygran GmbH and offered a job in Atlassian Support. I was incredibly happy, I finally got to do something in the area I always wanted to do something in. Polygran first gave me the chance to prove myself and to learn more practically. I joined a pretty good team right from the start, with people who are luminaries in the field. They taught me a lot! Those were really great years: The office was in downtown Ulm, I had really great colleagues and really enjoyed my work!

Happiness comes to those who expect it. Only they must also hold the door open.

In the meantime, the Atlassian project was terminated and handed over to another company. There was probably no more work for me in my department. So I went to another company and wanted to develop further to become an Atlassian consultant. Unfortunately, due to the project situation in the pandemic, nothing came of it. So I used the time and started looking into some certifications for the Atlassian tools and successfully completed them. I also got to know other tools, but was never as enthusiastic about them as I was about the Atlassian tools.

After about 10 months, I was given the opportunity to rejoin Polygran because my old project was reclaimed! That’s when I was called and asked if the door was still open or already closed. I was very happy because I was allowed to return to my former project, which I had helped to build and supervise for three years. Since December 2020, I am back at Polygran and working on what I love again. I’m actually doing more now than I previously gave myself the confidence to do. Through the certifications, I have developed the self-confidence and the courage to dare to take on difficult tasks. And it’s going really well! The 5 star ratings speak for themselves.

The Atlassian Way – Tasks and Requirements for a Solution Engineer

that various requests come in the tickets: Sometimes we need to create new users, sometimes we need to modify entire projects or Spaces for the customer, or just generally answer customers’ questions. My tasks also include ticket routing, which means that I assign tickets to the respective colleagues who can also solve them. To do this, I have to know which skills my colleagues have and which they don’t, so that the right tasks end up with the right people.

In this job, you need social skills and an understanding for people. You should like dealing with customers and be able to communicate with both customers and colleagues. You need a bit of sensitivity with some personalities.

Nevertheless, you should of course know what you are doing professionally. You can’t just click around randomly. You need a little experience in IT and a lot in handling the tool. A little technical understanding is helpful. My reliable colleagues take care of the really deep IT problems, where the error is server-related, for example. And they are also there for me quickly. Everyone takes the time to help each other.

You can’t always be on the sunny side of life – or can you?

I think it’s great when I complete my tasks and the customers are satisfied. Just the feeling of having accomplished something is a pro for me in this job. I start in the morning, there’s already a lot to do, and during the day there’s even more – but in the evening everything is done! And when the customers’ comments are positive, it’s especially nice.

I’m just happy when my customers are happy.

In this job, you are given a lot of responsibility. You act on behalf of the company. So if I mess up, it always reflects on the company and not on me as a person. You have to think about every click you make. Not everyone likes that. Mistakes can be corrected and you learn for the next time. We are free in the way we work as long as we do our job well. We can suggest changes at any time and also simply approach other departments and play along across divisions. The framework conditions are ideal for us to develop. But that’s nothing new from me, I always say that. I am the absolute No. 1 fan of Polygran – that is well known here.

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

I aspire to be like our team leader. He can simply do everything. I also just want to look at problems and know directly what I need to do to achieve the desired goal – related to Atlassian tools, of course. But for that you need analytical thinking and a lot of experience, which has to be built up over the years. I can also still imagine myself developing in the direction of an Atlassian consultant. For that, you also have to learn a lot, but I think you can’t always know everything. You just have to know where and how to get the relevant knowledge for a particular problem. But experience is the key to success. And that’s what I’m working on.

The work with my colleagues and the cooperation works extremely well, I couldn’t wish for better. More are welcome to join, so apply!

Tips for the future of the futures

For those who can also imagine this path, I really only have one tip: Keep at it. Just do what you enjoy. I’ve also done jobs that weren’t so great, that weren’t as fulfilling for me as my current job. Keeping at it always helps, that’s what brought me here. I just put Atlassian in my Xing profile as a hobby and lo and behold – it worked – someone saw it and acted on it.

And if someone wants to join Polygran directly, you just have to stay yourself. We are relaxed because we have the confidence. If you can do something, you don’t have to be afraid, just be relaxed and confident.