Business manager Andreea started working at Randstad Digital in 2014. Her first project was at the European Commission, and she never left. Her role is a bit of a helicopter role: she is the interface between users, stakeholders, non-IT and IT colleagues. And she loves it.
Andreea: “Even though I have a degree in environmental engineering, my current role is not very technical. My soft skills are my superpower in this job. I spend my days translating technical requirements to IT colleagues as well as explaining possible technical constraints to colleagues that don’t speak IT at all.”
this job found me.
“I’m an environmental engineer, so I do have a strong set of analytical skills”, Andreea tells us, “but I didn’t have a whole lot of experience in IT… I kind of stumbled onto this job, it found me rather than the other way around.”
“I’m Romanian, I came to Belgium in 2009 to get my master’s degree. I worked in environmental affairs for a few years, but I wasn’t really happy in this field. So I started to look for another job, and at Randstad Digital there was an opening for a junior project manager.”
Andreea: “I’ve learned so much on the job, that’s something I’m really proud of. I didn't necessarily speak IT before joining Randstad Digital - but I work with so many IT’ers that I acquired quite a good understanding about web development, UX design, acceptance testing …”
“I don’t think my path has been typical, though”, Andreea laughs. “All my life, I’ve floated between 2 extremes. In high school, I hated maths and I didn’t want anything to do with it. But when I graduated, I started studying engineering. And once I started looking for a job, I didn’t particularly want to work in IT, but here I am… ;-)”
european women in tech conference.
Andreea: “I’m happy Randstad Digital gave me and 5 other women the chance to attend the European Women in Tech Conference. I saw it as an opportunity to better understand what my colleagues talk about on a daily basis. And of course it’s great to listen to inspiring women talk about their careers, it’s very empowering!”
“I also loved learning more about topics that I don’t necessarily know a lot about myself. The use of AI, for example. I attended quite a few workshops and I feel that I’ve learned a lot of useful tools.”
“As a woman in tech myself, my colleagues are mostly men. While I’m often the only woman in the room, I don’t feel that I have a problem to get my message across. But I know women that do, and I think that’s a shame. That’s why it’s a good thing conferences like the European Women in Tech conference exist, to show us how many powerful women are really out there.”
go with the flow.
“I don’t know where my career will be in 5 years”, says Andreea. “I’ve never planned my career, I just try to go with the flow.”
“Right now, I’m still thoroughly enjoying my job, and I feel that I’m not yet at the peak of my learning curve. So my goal for right now is to improve in my role. Maybe follow some trainings - about the technical side of things as well as on people management. I work with a lot of different personalities, that each require a different approach. Some people are very organized, some are… not. ;-) This requires flexibility on my end.”
“So for now, I feel that I’m still more than content in the job that I’m doing - I’m not ready for too much change yet!”