Here at Stefanini, we discover stories about professional growth, career decisions and teamwork.
This time, our colleagues from the management team, Dorina Kocsis-Cristea and Valentina Băjenaru, shared their experiences, having spent years building their careers and taking on multiple roles that have allowed them to develop their skills and knowledge.
Dorina started her IT career at Stefanini 15 years ago as a Support Engineer, holding multiple roles, including Operations Specialist, Knowledge Engineer, Account Liaison and Service Manager, ahead of being appointed to lead the Digital Service Management Office. She first learnt about the opportunity to join Stefanini at a career event, which she had attended as a student who didn’t have extensive IT experience. “I looked at my first role at Stefanini as an opportunity to learn as much as possible and give a new industry a chance.”
Valentina’s entry into the IT industry came four years ago, when she joined Stefanini after looking to move out of a different industry, in which she had worked for more than 16 years. Valentina was initially appointed as a Site Manager at Stefanini, before joining the Remote Operations Teams.
While Dorina and Valentina felt they had a lot to learn when they first started out in IT, they were able to quickly build their experience and develop in their careers.
They believe that some level of uncertainty when starting out in a new industry is no bad thing, keeping you alert and assessing how you can improve your performance. “Entering a new industry is actually a really powerful learning experience that allows you to quickly develop your skills. If you embrace the challenge with the right attitude, opportunities will present themselves to you,” says Dorina.
Meanwhile, Valentina believes that entering a new industry was important for her development because she was motivated to emulate her more experienced colleagues. “I had the chance to work with very good managers, very good leaders, and I looked at them and I said I want to be like that,” explains Valentina.
Both Dorina and Valentina were prepared to embrace challenges when entering a fast-paced and varied industry like IT. It was their determination to keep going and to keep learning that allowed them to embrace the unknown and enjoy the journey. They have demonstrated that the ideal career path isn’t always linear, but should always allow for, learning opportunities and new challenges.
