Stelios Papoutsakis

How did you start your career at Altenar? Why did you decide to join the team?

There is actually a kind of funny story. I had just completed my military obligations and sent out about 20 or 30 CVs. One of them happened to be Altenar, though I knew nothing about the company at the time. I wasn't very organized back then, so I completely forgot about it.

While on a weekend getaway, I saw an email in my inbox. It was in English, mentioned Malta, but at the end, the signature belonged to a Greek guy, who is now my current director.

My immediate thought was, "This has to be a scam." So, I didn't answer it. It was a Saturday, and my girlfriend at the time told me, "Why not just send a simple reply? What could go wrong?" I argued, "It’s in English, it mentions Malta, but has a strangely Greek name at the bottom..."

The email was requesting an interview for that Wednesday. I finally replied on Monday... and the rest is history! It’s been 8+ years and counting.

The deciding factor for joining the team was actually my director. During the interview, he was incredibly approachable, calm, and gave me the confidence that I could genuinely build a career here.

How do you hire people for the team? What’s your priority when deciding whether to hire a candidate?

My philosophy is very clear: technical knowledge can be obtained; character cannot.

My top priority is always evaluating a candidate's "soft skills" – things like a positive attitude, integrity, ownership, and reliability. I’ve come to realize that these traits are far more important than I used to believe. You can educate someone on a new technology, but you cannot change who they are as a person.

I am looking for someone to work with, not someone I have to work for (by constantly managing their attitude). Therefore, in an interview, I try to structure questions in a way that reveals the candidate's inner truth.

The absolute ideal scenario is finding someone who is naturally curious, self-driven, and eager to evolve. These people are like the sun: they don't need anyone to shine a light on them; they light up the sky themselves! Once I see those qualities, the technical part is secondary.

What are your principles in working and communicating with your team?

My core principles are kindness, understanding, clarity, and continuous learning. I believe a leader's role is to guide and inspire.

When it comes to my team, I have two absolute, non-negotiable demands: everyone must be polite, and everyone must be hard-working. If we have mutual respect and a strong work ethic as our foundation, every other challenge or issue is easily manageable.