… and we’re on the lookout for senior software developers to join our team!

Are you attending the Booster Bergen conference from March 23 to 25? Keep an eye out for the friendly team from Noria’s Bergen office.

We spoke with Hilda Beate Lygre, CEO & Regional Director of Noria Vest, about why she’s excited about the networking opportunity offered by the Booster conference.

Hilda, how long has Noria had a presence in Bergen?

We’re over one year old now! When I was offered the opportunity to build Noria Vest in Bergen in February 2021, I had to say yes. As everyone in software development knows, Bergen has evolved into a fintech hub for big banks and insurance companies and is a wonderful place to pursue a career in this domain. As we celebrate our first birthday, I’m proud to say we’ve evolved into a serious presence in Bergen, servicing some major clients in the space including DNB and Tryg Insurance.

How big is your team and are you planning to grow?

We have expanded to a fantastic team of eight consultants since we first opened the doors at Noria Bergen. We’re experiencing dynamic growth, but we are taking care to pick the right people and not grow too fast in order to build the culture we want. All our consultants are senior, self-motivated professionals.

How would you describe the culture at Noria Vest?

If you find yourself chatting with someone from our team at the Booster conference, I hope you will see that we have a great culture, good people – and we care about each other! I know every company says this, but in our case, we really do make a great team.

We don’t need a manager in Bergen telling people what to do. My job is simply to enable our consultants, and I’m a consultant myself. We don’t have managers sitting around for the sake of managing others, but we do have a 'kulturbærer' : someone who focuses on the employee experience. Lene-Kristin makes sure every colleague feels seen, appreciated, and valued.

How have you built this great team culture?

There’s no talent acquisition team at Noria Vest. At present, everyone is handpicked by myself. My secret for getting the cultural aspect right is to start with an informal EQ test, then we only proceed to the technical test if candidates pass the EQ aspect.

How does this EQ test work? Generally, we meet for lunch and talk for about one-and-a-half hours to get to know each other on a deep level. If the candidate is a nice person with high emotional intelligence, and if they are keen to proceed, then they move to the next step. I’d say only one out of four people pass this EQ test.

Hiring the right sort of person isn’t just important for our team culture – it’s what our clients want: friendly, easy-going consultants who are genuinely interested in the people around them.

What are you looking forward to at the Booster conference?

After COVID lockdowns it’s important for the team to spend time with like-minded professionals and chat with people who are interested in the same things we are. We’re also hoping to be inspired by the program itself and learn some new stuff! There’s something for everyone at Booster – project managers, business analysts, software devs, test managers… and who knows, maybe someone from Noria Vest will be running a workshop in next year’s program.

I also believe Booster is a potential recruitment opportunity. It’s no secret that the talent market in fintech is crazy right now, particularly in Bergen. That’s why we’re keen to meet professionals like ourselves, get on their radar, and let them know about some of the opportunities at Noria.

What sort of person are you looking for at the conference?

Smart ones! We’re looking for senior software developers. At present, all eight of our team come from banking/finance and therefore have deep domain knowledge, but this isn’t essential. We can train people up if they have the technical skills (Java dev) but not the domain background.

Why should someone choose to work at Noria Bergen?

We’ve got the feel of a start-up, but Noria (Oslo) has existed for decades so we’re a safe choice and not a chaotic business! People who join us love being part of the journey, part of the growth, and can get involved in building the team if they want to. There are opportunities to work closely with customers or work predominantly in the backend – we’re happy to craft highly personalised job profiles, with a big focus on personal growth.

Interested in joining Noria Bergen? We would like to hear from you. Drop us a line at hanna.lindberg@noria.no or hilda.beate.lygre@noria.no