Alumni Newsletter
Hello, friends of Melon and Happy New Year!
This is the second edition of the Alumni Newsletter. First edition in English.
We hope that those near and dear to you are healthy and in a good mood. 2021 is here and we believe that better days lie ahead!
What's New?

Despite the economic crisis, we kept an active CSR policy and for the second year in a row we've supported four fantastic organizations, who significantly improve the quality of life for various children's groups in Bulgaria and Macedonia.

Moreover, as we had to cancel all our company parties, we donated the budget to causes aligned with our CSR policies and such that are fighting the direct consequences of the pandemic, including domestic violence, problematic neonatology and daycare for kids with Down's syndrome.

We've also adopted two beehives supporting the Bulgarian honeymakers and the bee population. We're still researching options to offer similar support in Macedonia.

Python and HR teams visited a school in the province town of Kozloduy to meet with 8th graders who are making their first steps into programming. We talked about the developers' profession, so that they can set realistic expectations should they choose it. Miro also made a demonstration of Python.
The kids were very satisfied and inspired, motiviating us to organize and take part in future events of the kind.

As we've repeatedly mentioned, Melon finds it important to remain an active and engaged actor in the forming of the IT environment in Bulgaria and Macedonia. We're positive that our knowledge, experience and way of thinking we've developed as a result of the last 17+ years of working with hundreds of technological partners from all corners of the world, can contribute to the advancement of the industry. For this reason, we applied for a membership in the newly formed employer's organization in Bulgaria - BRAIT, which aims to become part of the government's business council in Bulgaria.

In the last months, the rock band made up almost entirely of current and former Melon employees, ALI, become quite successful and known in Bulgaria. Recently Ali, Tony, Schwartz, Orli, Emo, Bobby and Kalo have risen to the very top of Bulgaria's rock charts with both of their released singles. We're expecting their new video to come out in January, in which a number of our colleagues also took part. You can read more about their story here.

Niki Kivshanov, the TL of Melon's iOS team, was featured in the Fall issue of Kapital newspaper's edition of „My Career“.
Niki shared about the challenges which helped his professional growth, as well his plans for further development as part of Melon.

Since 2017 we've been working with Slick – a UK-based company offering business management software for over 800 beauty salons in the country. We're using HTML/CSS, React Native, Python and Django for all new and key functionalites, as well as maintenance of the platform. You can read more about our work with Slick here.

For the time being, our offices remain close although we're dearly missing meeting our colleagues in person. But that's life - health is a top priority. Meanwhile, here's a quick view of the new branding in our Sofia office.Офисите ни засега остават затворени, въпреки че вече доста ни липсват срещите с колеги. Но няма как – здравето ни е на първо място. Междувременно изглежда последният брандинг на офиса ни в София, ако някой от вас все още не го е виждал на живо.
Our Referral program remains valid for you - our alumni. History has shown that the candidates we receive via your referrals are more successful and more likely to remain as long-term employees, compared to any other channel. We'd be delighted if you keep us in mind, as we appreciate our mutual relationship. Any smart, nice developers making things happen that you would recommend to be a part of Melon are more than welcome.
If you have friends or acquaintances who you think would be a good fit for Melon's production team, you can send their CVs and contacts to hr@melontech.com. We'll get in touch with them and if they join Melon and pass the trial period, as a symbolic token of gratitude we'll offer you:
500 EUR for Junior colleagues
1000 EUR for Senior colleagues
Also, if you personally would like to once again become part of our team, we'll be more than happy to have you 😊
You can find a list of all open positions here.
We wish you a cozy and bright holiday season and hope to see you in good health and mood in 2021!
As we don't have all of your e-mails, we're sending this article also via SMS to some recipients. If you wish to receive future newsletters via e-mail, please send your e-mail address to hr@melontech.com.
If you wish to unsubscribe from the newsletter, just send an e-mail to unsubscribe_alumninewsletter@melontech.com and you'll be excluded from the mailing list.
The first edition (BG only) can be viewed here.