IT is a flourishing field in Moldova, in full expansion, and nevertheless, many professionals believe that it is a field that is difficult to reach. Is it possible for people without experience to develop a successful career in this field?
We spoke with Ludmila Pahomi, Service Desk Manager in Stefanini Moldova who told us how she managed to become an IT manager without having any previous experience in the field, but also we discussed how others can also build a career in this expansive field. Ludmila is proud how Stefanini Moldova supports the growth of employees once they are part of the team.
Ludmila Pahomi has been Service Desk Manager in Stefanini Moldova for less than a year, and she recently received the Employee of the Year award in Digital Workplace, the team in which she works. How did she manage to achieve this distinction so quickly?
Ludmila: “The formula is simple. I do my work with passion! I don’t treat it as a job but as a development opportunity – I always ask myself, what outcome can I get from here?”
The first step in IT
Ludmila: “It was Stefanini who contacted me for an opportunity, and not the other way around. Having no previous experience in IT, I would not have considered applying for the current position. At that time I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and the challenge of leading a team with many employees during expansion plans was an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
Once she got “behind the curtain”, he realized that IT is not as difficult to access as she initially thought.
Ludmila: “For the Digital Workplace division, where we offer technical support for clients’ employees, there is a whole department that aims to increase the quality of the services offered. “It is a whole machine behind, with the help of a team of specialists in the area of Training, Quality, Knowledge and Incident management we manage to continuously increase the quality of the service we offer.
Nevertheless, the quality of the service actually depends on each person in the team, and I believe the key to success is the team made up of talented people, willing to work hard and with passion to provide the best support service to our customers. I am proud to say that I am the manager of such a wonderful team, and I am extremely glad that I have found people here who have inspired me and continue to do so.”
Who is suitable for the IT field?
Ludmila: “People who continuously want to develop. If they want to develop, we offer every chance to grow in several directions. From a Support Engineer role, which is the gateway into Stefanini Moldova’s Digital Workplace team, colleagues can reach open roles within the company such as: Quality Specialist, Team Leader, L2 Technical Support, System Administrator and many others.
The secret ingredients that make the difference are: the desire to develop in IT, very good communication skills and knowledge of the English language, as well as a real desire to help people. From here on, Stefanini provides a whole learning and development program, which contains a complete catalog of soft skills trainings, the Stefanini Technical Academy program internal Mentoring Programs, but also a career advancement path with well-established steps.“
In other words, the development opportunities in IT are diverse, even if you don’t know programming, it’s important to want and take actions in that direction.
What is Stefanini’s approach to supporting employee development?
Ludmila: “What made me stay in Stefanini, even though it was a new field, was the company’s culture, which is oriented towards human development, but also because I have the opportunity to contribute to the development of employees. Likewise, I really appreciate that there is a great emphasis on quality and performance, and being a perfectionist by nature, I found myself a lot in these values.
We strive to cultivate a strong, well-knit team, and together we have a common goal. Stability and balance, as well as trust in people, are what guide me in nurturing the work environment in Stefanini. With people’s trust and openness, we will always find solutions.
People want to become more and have the capacity to support this growth! We make sure that they fulfill their potential in Stefanini. We can!”
From a team of 65 employees to around 300 in less than 5 years
The Stefanini Moldova team enjoys a continuous growth of teams, from 65 employees in 2017 to approximately 300 in mid-2022.
Ludmila: “In the Digital Workplace division, the increase in the number of employees was significant in the last year. From 40 colleagues providing technical support in 2021, the Digital workplace team has now reached over 100 members. The headquarters of Stefanini Moldova is centrally located, in the Chișinău office, Staful Țării street no. 29.”
What are the plans for the future? How does Stefanini Moldova propose to support the pace of growth?
Ludmila: “We want to maintain the pace of growth in Moldova, precisely through the appetite for IT of the professionals in Chișinău. Customers trust us – we strive to ensure that the services we provide exceed their expectations. Thus, we will be able to support the growth of our teams both in terms of the diversity of the services we offer and the number of team members.”
