Nov 3, 2022
Mihai Avram left his agency job and joined Bolt as a Senior PR Manager for brand and product in October of 2021. Much more than just a job switch, he also moved from Bucharest to Tallinn with his wife Oana and their daughter Eva.
Why did Mihai decide to move to Bolt in Estonia? And what does it take to be a PR manager in the fastest-growing company in Europe? Read on to find out.
After 7 years of PR agency work in Bucharest, Mihai decided it was time to do something different.
“I was looking to try in-house PR. It’s a lot different from working in an agency. In an agency, you work with your client for a short period of time. You don’t get fully acquainted with how the client works and functions, and you don’t get to follow the company narrative for a long time. In-house communication seemed more impactful.”
Mihai described the hiring process as straightforward and transparent. His particular application process consisted of three interviews and a home assignment split into two parts. “I loved those home assignments. They made it clear that Bolt was genuinely curious if I can actually do stuff. So it wasn’t about my resume. My skills were evaluated,” says Mihai.
When the job offer was already in Mihai’s pocket, it was time to start the relocation process.
“I roughly knew where Estonia was on the map. I knew it might be a bit cold. I heard it was a highly-digitised society. But I never considered coming here on holiday, let alone moving here altogether!” says Mihai.
Bolt’s relocation team walked Mihai and his family through the process and supported them each step of the way. “Bolt covered everything from plane tickets for my entire family to a nice apartment to stay in for a month until we settled in a permanent place. Looking back, all we had to do was pack and show up for work on Monday,” says Mihai.
We don’t do average days at Bolt.
“It’s crazy fast, crazy different, and keeps you on your toes,” says Mihai, “If you’re more of a laid-back type of a person, and want to focus more on writing press releases, then maybe you should try something else.”
Mihai works with product and brand PR for Bolt globally, so he gets to launch new features as part of a big team. Mihai’s areas of responsibility are helping strategise how we present our products in PR, announce them in the media, and maintain the media’s interest in our products.
He also supports our press officers and regional PR managers by providing product and mission messages.
Working for Bolt puts him in contact with many people from different departments in the company. “That kind of fast, straightforward, functional communication is a key part of the culture, and I’m enjoying that a lot,” says Mihai.
Mihai also highlighted the following favourite parts of life at Bolt.
Mihai feels happy and challenged being a part of Bolt’s PR team.
At Bolt, we build a vision where people get rid of their private cars and use shared mobility instead. Mihai sees that society is already moving in that direction, and it’s just a matter of time before more people and cities pick up these habits that will change the way we move in cities for the better.
“Let’s get down to basics — everybody hates traffic. So you’d like to know how you can solve that problem. And Bolt can help you solve that problem,” says Mihai. “This is one of the many reasons I see my work as meaningful.”
What people do at Bolt impacts the lives of over 100 million people. It matters that they understand what our products are about, how they can help them and how they can change people’s mobility needs for the better.
“Talking about Bolt specifically, a great PR manager should be very good at strategising, communicating, and delivering meaningful key messages to the public,” says Mihai.
“You also need to know your public to adapt your messages — it’s especially relevant when you take care of PR in several regions. Having an eye for detail and knowing what is essential for people and relevant for journalists is also important,” Mihai added.
As a PR manager, it may seem that news occupies all the space around you. However, Mihai always makes time for his hobbies.
Mihai likes to read and is passionate about doing origami — it helps him stay focused, and it’s a fun activity to do with his daughter, Eva.
He and his family do a bit of travelling around Estonia and Europe. Estonia is a fascinating country with plenty of places to discover. Mihai, Oana, and Eva are on a new adventure almost every weekend.
If you feel inspired by Mihai’s story and how we approach work at Bolt and want to impact hundreds of millions of people daily, check out our vacancies.
We have hundreds of open roles, from entry-level to top-level management, each one an exciting opportunity to contribute to making cities for people, not for cars.
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