Find out how employees perceive UBK

This time we interviewed Vašek, who is responsible for project support and translations. Read how he perceives the work at UBK and the UBK company.

• What made you choose UBK as your employer?

More or less a mistake brought me to UBK. At the age of 55 I was registered at the employment office and was looking for a meaningful job for a long time (quite desperately). I found out about the job as a “software tester” and found out again that it would not be for me. During the interview Mr. Tomášek and I talked about the fact that a job suitable for me in the company could become available in the near future. After previous experiences I didn’t have much hope, but in the end it “worked out”.

• How do you perceive the cooperation with managing director Lukáš?

Cooperation with managing director Lukáš? In my varied and relatively long “professional career” I was confronted with many “bosses” so that I can compare. Mr. Tomášek would certainly do very well, because nowadays it is almost impossible to be a professionally successful manager and still remain a “person”. In my opinion, Lukáš manages to do this very well. But I am too short in the company to evaluate it, and I don’t want it to sound submissive either, because the “boss” basically pulled me out of the “trash can” of today’s society. I try to be more and more “compatible” with UBK, to give it back somehow. Simply put, the “boss” is for me both formally and informally an authority and a “manager” (which in Czech is translated as “jednatel” rather cumbersomely).

• How do you work with Marta?

The same goes for Marta. Probably mainly thanks to her, the company has a cosy and relaxed atmosphere. At the same time, she is absolutely professional in running the company. She reminds me a little of my ex-wife, who always solved problems that seemed almost unsolvable to me in a playful and elegant way. Fortunately, in Marta’s case, I can apply more of my knowledge, as she provides me with a lot of different “translation teasers”, which is really the only thing I can do in the company without feeling like a complete idiot, as I have no knowledge of IT problems.

At UBK I translate German, with the generous support of highly sophisticated electronic translators I try English, look for German ads with potential job offers for UBK and mainly learn… When I came here, the computer was a “Spanish village” for me, so I try to make it at least a “Bohemian village”, as the Germans call the (Czech) Spanish village.

• Does your work fulfill you?

The work at UBK fulfils me, of course. Before I started here, the employment office sent me to various “assembly plants”, I was retrained, worked manually and sat at home as an unemployed person, so I felt quite unnecessary and all the time I was dreaming of a job like at UBK.

• How did the management deal with you if you did not know something? (if ever)

For me, most of the activities at UBK meant starting almost “from scratch”. Thanks to the management’s approach, I was able to gradually get rid of my initial fears and began to function almost “normally”. I hope that, over time, this will also be an advantage for the company and that the situations where I don’t know something will decrease…

• What do you like about the UBK and what do you appreciate here? (work, team, location)

At UBK I even like to “work”. But also otherwise it is an interesting environment between “younglings” (after all I am almost retired), who however behave decently and cultivated and probably “can do” something, which I still cannot judge qualified. If I manage to overcome problems with my “compatibility” with the topic of UBK’s activities, I will be very happy to “slog” here as long as possible.

The location is fantastic – for the fact that we are practically in the centre of Pilsen, there is peace and quiet, a view of the river, green areas… Our nonconformist designed office is also great and perfectly completes the overall impression – just great…

• Where do you see the weaknesses of the company?

I see no weaknesses – this is of course a relative valuation, but what is already absolute today?

• What is the added value of UBK?

Added value of UBK? As a graduate economist, I should know something about it. In my opinion, in this context UBK is probably the best company of all I have worked for in my life. Maybe with the exception of customs brokerage, but there it was (from my point of view) a dirty theft, because we received money for “nothing”…