nadia | b-side #6
Getting Down to Business
1. What is your job profile?
Employee relations partner for Portugal and Ireland at a tech company. I am responsible for identifying potential breaches in internal policies and I conduct investigations in regard to work related sensitive matters.
2. What was your first job?
Costumer Service Representative.
3. What led you to this career?
I don’t have a background in HR so, shortly after I had started working as a Costumer Service Representative, I had the opportunity to join a team under the HR umbrella called employee support and from that point onward everything has happened naturally. I became in love with the fact that I could be in touch with people from all over the world and then I fell in love with the impact you can have in someone else.
4. Who had the biggest impact on the person you have become?
I think that the person that has taught me the most was my first manager when I went to employee support, my first HR experience.
5. How much has your work interfered in your personal life? What do you think could make a difference for a better work-life balance?
In the past my work interfered a lot in my personal life. I was always working overtime and traveling which kept away from home. Now I feel I am in a company with a healthier culture when it comes to work extra hours and this has impacted my life in a very positive way.
6. Talk to us about something unexpected you have encountered in your company?
A thing that I really liked is that there's a lot of diversity and that diversity is respected and embraced. One of the culture norms is that we celebrate difference.
7. What’s a work-related accomplishment that you’re proud of?
The setting up of the retention team. Being able to establish a team from scratch alone and transform it in a nuclear team with seventeen team members, is something that I am quite proud of.
8. From a management perspective, what was the biggest challenge you had to face?
Finding the right balance between who you are and business needs. I think most of the times you'd love to see your values mirrored in the company you are working for… Sometimes, I had to defend things that I didn’t believe on a personal level to meet professional expectations.
9. Do you feel like you have made mistakes in your career? Did you learn a valuable lesson from those mistakes?
Looking back, I think I have made the mistake of staying for too long in a comfort zone. The fear of the unknown made me stay in a situation without consider a better opportunity. I had stopped investing in myself.y.
10. What did you study?
International Relations.
11. In your opinion, what is the hardest soft or technical skill to find nowadays?
Active listening.
Let’s get Personal
12. What advice would you give to your teenage self?
I think I would advise my young self to explore, to do different things. I always acted upon what was expected of me and I ended up going beyond that.
13. What’s one of your favorite memories from the past year?
I think when I decided to change jobs.
14. What’s your guilty pleasure?
Gossip about the royal families only.
15. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a lot of things, but the one I wanted the most was archaeologist.
16. What are some things you want to accomplish before you die?
I'd like to have a clearer vision of who I am..
17. Do you prefer being challenged or do you prefer to challenge?
I prefer to be challenged and usually I am more challenged than I challenge. Maybe in the future I will reverse this
18. What subjects should be taught in school but aren’t?
Emotional intelligence Is one of them. I don’t think the educational system is made for people to think for themselves, you need to memorize stuff to get a degree. I think memorizing is not the most valid or useful skill in a working context.
19. Would you rather donate your body to science or donate your organs to people who need them?
Donate my organs. I think it’s a more direct contribution.
20. What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?
That I am a super fan of metal.
21. What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?
Someone once told me that I had the “Midas Touch”.
22. What’s one thing you’re currently trying to make a habit?
I am trying to create a mental breach by doing artistic things. I am also trying to make time to go to the gym, not only because of my self esteem, but also to feel healthier.
Time to have fun
23. What book are you reading now?
Emotional Intelligence - Daniel Goldman.
24. What is your favorite color?
Black.
25. If you could choose a superpower, what would it be?
Omnipotence.
26. If you could only have three apps on your smartphone, which would you pick?
Uber. LinkedIn. Google Chrome.
27. What’s the top destination on your must-visit list?
Since I was a child, I always wanted to go to Egypt.
28. Would you rather have everything on your phone right now (browsing history, photos, etc.) made public to anyone who searches your name or never use a cell phone again?
I'd rather have all my researches made public.
29. Would you rather give up bathing for a month or give up the internet for a month?
A month without internet. It wouldn’t be easy.
30. Would you rather be the absolute best at something that no one takes seriously or be well above average but not anywhere near the best at something well respected?
I'd rather be the best, even if I am not taken seriously.
31. What’s the first concert you ever went to?
Linkin park.
32. Would you rather find your true love or a suitcase with five million dollars inside?
True love.
33. What’s your favorite TV show—the one you’re always watching on repeat?
Game of thrones.
34. Do you think it is important for companies to get to know people beyond their job profile?
Definitely.