Oliver Gronwald

Hi Oli, thanks for taking the time! You joined the company in May 2020 as the first dedicated Recruiter at Checkmk after 8 years working in IT recruitment agencies.

Can you please introduce yourself briefly?

Hi, my name is Oliver and I'm responsible for recruiting for our tech teams. I joined the company in 2020 after spending eight years in IT recruitment agencies, helping software professionals and teams find the right fit. I made a conscious decision to move in-house – not just to fill roles, but to build long-term hiring strategies and shape how a company grows.

As Checkmk’s first in-house recruiter, I spent my first two years redesigning and implementing the entire hiring process across all departments – from software engineering and support to product management and internal IT. My focus was to create a recruiting experience that’s structured, transparent, and most importantly, human – for both candidates and hiring teams.

Today, I’m responsible for recruiting across all tech-related teams, working closely with our People & Culture team and hiring managers. I see myself not just as a recruiter, but as a partner in growth – someone who understands both people and business needs.

Why did you decide to work at Checkmk? What appealed to you about our company and our mission?

When I applied at Checkmk, I had absolutely no idea what Checkmk was. I heard of it from a colleague who was working with Mathias (Founder). At that time the idea was to move into an internal role and help a company grow. For me it was also interesting to see how the candidates I managed to hire grew over time and to see their development. In the end, it was't the product - it was the people and the task. I spoke with Thomas (Rauscher), Elias and Jan and everyone gave me a really good feeling. It was an open and honest process, whether it was the first interview or the contract discussion.

What do you think makes Checkmk or your team in particular special?

There are so many things that make us special. I have never had such open and transparent communication and information flow. If you want, you can get information on almost all topics, even notes from management meetings.

Another great aspect is the “community” that we have internally: cross-team lunches, bouldering and sports groups, after-work drinks in our beautiful backyard, or at the pub around the corner! Within the team, we can rely on each other, with high trust as well as very high confidentiality. You can talk with everyone about everything, and it will stay between you!

What I also really liked at Checkmk: though we already have a good set of processes in place, we will change them if there is a better way to do things. It may take some time, but everyone is open to it. And that is only possible as we like to give and take feedback on almost all topics. For example, I was hired for recruiting, but with time I took on other responsibilities – such as contract management, rebuilding the career page, a bit of “employer branding”, being part of the project team bringing in our HR system, setting up employment references, and a lot more things I never dreamed of working on!

What does a typical work day look like for you?

Uh, the only typical things are the daily with my colleague Max, the weekly Check-in and Check-out with the People & Culture Team as well as a weekly Recruiting Jour Fixe with Julia, our Head of People and Culture. On a regular basis, I have a 1:1 with Julia for personal feedback and development. And the sports breaks on Mondays and Wednesdays, where I use our flexible work hours and clock out between 10:45 and 13:30. Depending on the recruiting plan, I have weekly session with hiring managers to discuss the current status. Other than that, every day is different, depending on interviews and other topics.

In your everyday work, you get to know new people on a daily basis. How do you manage to build up a relationship with all these different applicants?

I always try to treat applicants the way I want to be treated. For me, that means trying to give prompt and open feedback. The further a candidate gets with us, the more detailed the feedback will be. Because it is not only us who invest time. The applicants also invest a lot of time, and at the very least, they deserve feedback they can use and get something out of. The goal is to give the candidate the feeling that they are already part of the team and can experience the Checkmk vibe.

How does the cooperation with our different departments work when recruiting for a new position?

We always integrate the team in the recruitment process. This is discussed with the hiring manager. Together with the team, we set up the process and discuss how many interviews/discussions/sessions we will have. We also discuss potential challenges and evaluations to make sure everyone is ready before we start and we don't waste time. As soon as everything is settled, we start with the recruiting process. Besides reviewing applications, this also means active sourcing for Max and me. Included are also update sessions with the team and the hiring manager to make sure everyone is aware of the current situation and can prepare for potential interviews and actions.

In addition, we implement a feedback survey once a year for the recruiting process to see if we can do things better, internally and externally.

What drives you in your work at Checkmk?

A lot of things drive me. But mostly, it is great to see how the colleagues whom I accompanied through the process and convinced to join Checkmk evolved and developed throughout their time here. Melina, Tanja, Christian Reiser, Max Linke - just to name a few examples. A lot of colleagues had and have a great time with Checkmk; seeing how they grew, e.g., from a working student in 2020 to a team lead today, is fantastic and lights a fire in my eyes and heart when I think about it.