Plamena explains what her role as a talent acquisition specialist involves and why, a year on, she regards joining TIS as a great move for her career…
First impressions
I help to recruit talented people, and support them through the orientation process to integrate into their new team and make an effective start with TIS.
In my own case, I joined the company just as Bulgaria went into lockdown for the pandemic and everyone started working from home. Despite not being able to meet in person, my new colleagues in the HR team made me feel very welcome and this is something I’ve taken forward in my work of on-boarding new people remotely.
Gaining international experience
My role is global: I’m responsible for the process of hiring and on-boarding new joiners across the company worldwide. This has given me the international experience I was seeking and was one of the reasons I joined TIS.
It’s opened up a whole new world for me, as each of the different geographies in which we operate has its own hiring strategy, reflecting local recruitment conditions.
I already knew the Bulgarian recruitment market very well before joining TIS. Now I understand how recruitment works across EMEA, the USA and South East Asia. It has been an enjoyable challenge to understand the different cultures and learn how to adopt the right approach with hiring managers and applicants for each location – it gives me a lot of job satisfaction.
Within each TIS office, too, there is a real mix of different nationalities. I value the way TIS is truly multicultural as I believe diversity, recruiting people from different backgrounds, enriches any business and reflects the diverse world we live in.
An empowering culture
Working in HR, I’m sometimes asked what TIS looks for in a candidate. Of course, we need people with certain specialist skills who will be great ambassadors for TIS and help us to provide the best possible technology and service for our customers.
But in addition, in terms of personal qualities, we need people to be proactive. If you can use your own initiative to get the job done, rather than being micromanaged, chances are you’d thrive at TIS.
Personally, I find having a high level of autonomy very empowering. It makes my working day more rewarding and provides opportunities to grow.
Mutual support
At the same time as being encouraged to use our initiative in tackling a task or solving a problem, there is a strong sense of teamwork at TIS. You need to be a good team player – many tasks require it.
But more than this, knowing you have the support of your colleagues in a positive atmosphere is so important. It’s an intrinsic part of the TIS culture to recognise success, appreciate our colleagues’ efforts and thank them for a job well done.
In the same way, none of us likes making a mistake, but if you do, it’s not a disaster at TIS. Instead of playing the blame game, we use it as an opportunity to reflect in order to do better next time. That’s another reason why, compared with all my previous workplaces, I’ve learnt such a lot in my time at TIS and feel that I’ve grown in confidence as a result.
What’s more, our ideas and suggestions for improvement are valued and taken seriously. We feel listened to and that our opinion matters.
I find it impressive that, even as the company continues to grow rapidly, and we have over 200 people, we still hold an ‘on-boarding campus’ every so often for all recent joiners. Senior leaders share their vision for TIS and new employees can raise any questions they may have about the business. I can’t think of many companies where C-level managers would invest their time in this way.
All this helps to explain why I tell my friends that moving to TIS has been the best thing for my career!
