Join us in our journey to interview some of the most extraordinary individuals that continue to make The KPI Institute a role-model for others to follow. In today’s edition, we will be featuring July’s Employee of the Month, Alexandru Podariu.
1. What is your role at The KPI Institute and what makes it special?
I am currently employed as the Head of IT, at The KPI Institute. My day-to-day work includes anything and everything that has to do with ensuring our digital footprint, services, and websites are updated and run smoothly.
I enjoy my role here because we work on extremely eclectic projects, which always provide me with something new to achieve or put together. Things never get boring working in IT here.
2. What do you find most challenging at The KPI Institute?
Since we tackle so many different projects, there’s a never-ending source of new things to do every day. It would be nice sometimes to be able to plan tasks in advance, but I cannot complain too much – the constant shift in tasks keeps me on my toes.
What’s more, due to this, I get to expand my knowledge and use many different tools, gadgets, instruments, and technologies in various work endeavours that I get assigned to.
3. What would be the three main career lessons that you have learnt thus far?
Never call it quits – even when a situation looks dire and you have no idea whether there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, keep going. You might need to pause for a brief moment and rethink your strategy, but as long as you stay focused, you’re golden. Also, never forget about the IT rubber ducky!
Keep learning new things – knowledge doesn’t end when a project is finished; knowledge ends when you cease to be interested in perfecting your craft. At least in my area of specialization, there is no finish line. We keep going and going. Each task is something new – either an update to an old solution or a completely novel discovery altogether.
Continue to optimize everything – the biggest “sin” I see people in IT commit is not giving optimization its due respect. Your website’s loading slowly? Optimize it! Your game’s not loading correctly? Recheck optimization! Your program’s stuttering? Optimize the code! Optimization is the difference between a choppy and smooth interaction.
4. If you could interview one person, either from the past or present, who would it be and why?
I think the person I’d be most inclined to talk to would be Elon Musk. The man has no chill. The man perseveres, trudges on, and never gives up regardless of how many naysayers he encounters.
In my opinion, that level of determination is incredible, and I’d like to know how he managed to inculcate in himself such an attitude.
Join us in our journey to interview some of the most extraordinary individuals that continue to make The KPI Institute a role-model for others to follow. In today’s edition, we will be featuring June’s Employee of the Month, Cristina Mihailoaie.
1. What is your role at The KPI Institute and what makes it special?
I am the Business Unit Coordinator for the Research Programs at The KPI Institute. My role revolves around investigating what products and services would support professionals to overcome any business challenges they might encounter – what are their needs and what tools can our research team develop to address them.
My job positions me at the crossroads of a constant back-and-forth between our development team and our clients. I provide feedback to both sides and try to keep a level balancing act between understanding our clients’ needs and our team’s capabilities for delivery.
2. What do you find most challenging at The KPI Institute?
Being comfortable with a fast-moving working environment, and keeping up with all the different initiatives we got going.
This year put our company in hyperdrive mode, and we have not lifted our foot off the gas pedal ever since. As someone who is passionate about fitness, I never thought I would experience the same level of action and energy, on a mental level.
However, 2020 had quite a few surprises in store. Nonetheless, at least I can never say that I’m bored with my work!
3. What would be the three main career lessons that you have learnt thus far?
Be bold – be willing to take risks
There is always a way if you search hard enough – perseverance and determination pay off
Join us in our journey to interview some of the most extraordinary individuals that continue to make The KPI Institute a role-model for others to follow. In today’s edition, we will be featuring January’s Employee of the Month, Péntek Borbála.
1. What is your role at The KPI Institute and what makes it special?
My current role here is Senior Research Analyst: this means both coordinating the Research team and being an off-site liaison for the Institute’s consultancy projects. There are many aspects that make this role special, but the one thing I want to emphasize is the team aspect (both the Research team and our colleagues from other departments).
On the one hand, I’ve learnt a lot from my colleagues and helpful coworkers (I want to take this opportunity to thank them for that); on the other hand, the Research team that I’m a part of is the best team I could hope for (I would also like to thank them for their overall great attitude every day, and especially during these challenging times).
2. What do you find most challenging at The KPI Institute?
The constant changes in tasks. Ironically, that’s also what I find most rewarding at my work. You really cannot get bored with your work for too long if you are part of the Research team.
Every day is a new challenge and the lessons learnt in a previous task are rarely directly applicable to your next project. However, the way we handle situations and find solutions gives us the experience and drive to overcome any other challenge that may arise.
3. What would be the three main career lessons that you have learnt thus far?
Empathy and open communication are the key to teamwork. No one is constantly right, and we need to practice accepting criticism. We need to learn how to be confident in our own decisions and choices: don’t forget about the situations you handled well, the challenges you overcame, because those will fuel your next successes.
4. If you could interview one person, either from the past or present, who would it be and why?
I would love to interview Lomb Kató (or honestly, I would just love to listen to her talk about her passion). She was one of the first simultaneous interpreters in the world. I could write a lot about her, but I advise you to read her book Polyglot: How I learn languages (my favorite part is when she talks about starting to learn Japanese, by trying to translate a drug patent description of some sort, because there weren’t (m)any Hungarian-Japanese language books at the time).
She didn’t believe in “being talented at learning languages”. She thought that the formula to successfully learning any language is (Invested time x Motivation)/Inhibition. I try to apply this formula to other aspects of my professional life, and I would love to hear more about this from her, during an interview.
Join us in our journey to interview some of the most extraordinary individuals that continue to make The KPI Institute a role-model for others to follow. In today’s edition, we will be featuring February’s Employee of the Month, Ágnes Ilyés.
1. What is your role at The KPI Institute and what makes it special?
I work as a Business Research Analyst. What makes this position special is the variety of everyday tasks and the possibility of constantly learning new things.
Thus far, my favorite responsibility has been recording the Certified Data Analysis online training course, which was a totally new experience for me, and it is a defining event in my professional career.
Such a task comes with multiple layers of micro and macro managing, and I feel as if I’ve accumulated a great deal of experience as a direct result.
2. What do you find most challenging at The KPI Institute?
The chief thing I find truly testing, yet also rewarding, is the fact that every task is different from the other one. Such a high variety of different daily objectives makes my job very exciting.
It also helps develop new skills, however sometimes, like most roles positioned at the conflux of a company, all of this can be really overwhelming.
Nonetheless, the novelty that each task brings makes every day a new adventure.
3. What would be the three main career lessons that you have learnt thus far?
With a good team, you can do things you thought impossible.
Never say no, until you’ve tried it.
Do not be afraid to ask questions.
4. If you could interview one person, either from the past or present, who would it be and why?
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, since she was one of the most important figures in the British monarchy, which I find fascinating. Moreover, I’m someone who values one’s family a great deal, and we now know from history books that she was a good wife and mother.
I would like to ask her how she managed, as a woman in those times, to deal with her responsibilities and how she managed to keep the ”work-life balance” in check.
Join us in our journey to interview some of the most extraordinary individuals that continue to make The KPI Institute a role-model for others to follow. In today’s edition, we will be featuring April’s Employee of the Month, Carmen Jisa.
1. What is your role at The KPI Institute and what makes it special?
My role within TKI revolves around collecting and recording data on everything related to the financial, accounting, and HR aspects of the company’s business with both international and domestic clients.
My duties are to ensure that all of The KPI Institute’s finances and monetary affairs are handled in an orderly, streamlined, and clear-cut fashion.
2. What do you find most challenging at The KPI Institute?
To complete all of the tasks I have in one day.
Working at TKI entails having to split up into multiple individuals, even more so now that we’ve transferred our teachings altogether in the e-format.
Due to our courses being mostly online now, demand has skyrocketed, and there are certain months where matters can get quite hectic from a financial administration point of view.
However, that’s all for the better, since more attendees mean more courses, which in turn means higher revenue. So overall, things are looking on the up and up.
3. What would be the three main career lessons that you have learnt thus far?
I wouldn’t say there are main career lessons that I’ve learnt, however, there are a few traits that I have developed, as a result of my work at The KPI Institute.
If I were to list the top 3, these would probably be perseverance, involvement, and the diligence to complete everything that needs to be done.
Like I mentioned previously, with the amount of work that’s been pouring in, one has to be very focused on their tasks, and luckily for me, I have had ample time to work on & develop these traits.
Now, I find myself in a position where I always find it easy to become 100% concentrated on what I have to achieve day in ‘n’ day out.
4. If you could interview one person, either from the past or present, who would it be and why?
One person which I’ve always found interesting, with a very compelling personality, is Michelle Obama. If I’d have the option, I’d very much enjoy having a personal conversation with her.
