Camelia Virvarii, Head of IPCC Service Operations – SCC Romania Services
I’m Camelia Virvarii, Head of IPCC Service Operations for SCC Romania Services, overseeing Major Incident Management, Change Management, Problem Management, Asset Management, Knowledge Management & Service Desk Service Assurance.
How did you start your career? Which were your first steps? How did you envision your career?
Joined SCC Romania 10 years ago at a friend’s recommendation and quickly realised, speaking to my colleagues, that I joined a company that not only looks after its people but also has tonnes of career opportunities. Started with a more simple activity that secured the foundation in terms of knowledge and exposure to various parts of the business and continuously developed myself to the point I am today. Looking back at my first days in SCC, I realise that not only am I today where I wanted to be, but there is still plenty room to further develop within the company, and this is a great feeling.
What were your key career moments?
Important moments that have either guided or strengthen my career path are hundreds however there are 2 that always come to my mind when I think of my journey in SCC:
1. Leaving an SME role and taking on leadership responsibilities in 2017 for the same area. The objective I set for myself when taking the role was to grow the teams in Ro and help as many team members as possible develop their careers.
2. In 2021, I cannot remember precisely on what occasion, I did an assessment of the past 5 years and how IPCC journey looks in terms of resource growth and supporting our people (the objective I set for myself in 2017). After doing the math, when I drew the line, it showed that with the help of the amazing teams we have and the high quality of the services we deliver, we managed to grow the RO department with approx. 600% in 5 years. More than this, over 90% of the career opportunities that were available within the department have been filled in with existing team members, and year over year, our results were better and better. That was the moment when I decided we should ask for more, and IPCC Romania not only shifted the focus from being mainly operational to having an input into the strategy in the same year, but was empowered to define the strategy and shape the future for these services in 2022—this brought even more opportunities for our team members.
What are the three most valuable career lessons you have learnt?
I started my career in SCC when I was in my early 20s, and even though I was not as wise as I am now probably (after 10 years), there was a lesson I quickly learned – when you love what you do, you come to work with pleasure.
On various occasions, especially at the beginning of my career, I found myself multiple times in a situation where someone was telling me, “Don’t do X, I tried, and it cannot be done”. Instead of listening to that advice, if X was the right thing to do, I went ahead and did it anyway—9 out of 10 times, with a different approach, it worked. So, another important lesson I learned since early days is if someone tried to accomplish something and didn’t succeed, that does not mean YOU won’t succeed.
Another lesson that I learned and value and that has been validated in different scenarios over the years is that if you believe in yourself, sky is the limit. Don’t let anyone convince you that there is something you cannot do, if you know and believe you can do it, you will be GREAT at it.
Why did you choose Business Services Industry? What were the top 3 reasons for choosing your company?
Business Services Industry was always the path that I wanted to follow; it was a goal I set for myself in my senior year of high school. I chose SCC in 2013 as my friend described the company as being a company that not only has multiple career opportunities but also cares about and invests in people. I chose to stay with SCC for a decade as, constantly throughout the years, I felt valued, supported, and empowered. I had and have space to be creative, I work with people who share the same values and passion for achieving great things, and the company is constantly working on continuously improving from all points of view. Customers and Employees are equally valued, and having a healthy work environment has always been a top priority.
Tell us a little bit about your private life: your passions, family. What do you do to relax?
While I enjoy and love very much my job, the true happiness is at home, where my significant other and I do our best to love and care for a beautiful English Bulldog girl (Lyra) and a British Shorthair cat (Luna). Having free time almost never happens when you have a bulldog, as they are very needy and demand constant attention. However, from time to time, I treat myself to other pleasant activities such as going out with friends, reading a good book, playing video games, or watching a good movie.
Lately, when I have a really hard day and I feel I have way too many tabs open in my brain, I play chess— it helps me disconnect.
If now you were starting your career, knowing the present and near future opportunities, what would you do?
I would follow the same path, but I believe things would be a bit easier for me due to the amount of information that exists today, compared to more than 10 years ago.
What are the top 3 skills that you would develop?
Even if I have years of experience, speaking in public still stresses me out, and this is one of the areas that I would like to focus on quite quickly. Two other skills that I believe constantly need improving as generations change and have different views and behaviours are communication and people skills. What works for a millennial does not necessarily work for a Gen Z, and knowing how to talk to and motivate your people is extremely important.
What would you do and what would you avoid doing? – practical advice to young professionals
My advice would be to find a field that they are passionate about and work hard on building a career in that direction. What I would avoid doing is finding a job just to have a job and changing roles or companies too often.
George Cernatescu, Head of UK Operations – SCC Romania Services
I’m George Cernatescu, Head of UK Operations in RO for SCC Romania Services, overseeing the Service desk teams, BPO, and other support-type IT services.
How did you start your career? Which were your first steps? How did you envision your career?
I started with SCC following a friend’s recommendation; I quickly saw it was an environment where I could grow and develop a career, both technically and in terms of leadership.
What were your key career moments?
I think every year had key career moments and decisions, but the most important one that put me on the current path was when I was with SCC for just 1 year and I had an opportunity for a technical position; when listening to the role and options, I realised I wanted to work with people, hear their stories, help them grow and evolve, more than having technical knowledge.
Key to this was that the leadership at the time listened, understood, and accepted my decision; from that point on, I have focused on my leadership skills, made considerable efforts to improve myself and grow, and pursued relevant opportunities.
What are the three most valuable career lessons you have learnt?
I only have 2 that I consider “most valuable”:
– know what you want in terms of goals/career and work toward it – no one, no matter how many career maps or mentors a company has, can do that for you; if you don’t know what you want, you cannot obtain what you want.
– secondly – surround yourself with good people, that help you, make you feel comfortable being around them and help you grow (if I am allowed, avoid those who always find something to criticise and encourage a blame culture).
Why did you choose Business Services Industry? What were the top 3 reasons for choosing your company?
– firstly, I was attracted by the opportunity to work with people all over the globe, as well as the culture;
– the people themselves, who are open minded, intelligent, empathic;
– the opportunities to grow.
Tell us a little bit about your private life: your passions, family. What do you do to relax?
I am happily married with 2 kids, a girl and a boy; as for passions, I get great satisfaction from helping people grow professionally at work, which is x10 when it comes to helping my kids. As a personal view, I don’t think there is a greater “end goal” (or challenge) in life than having kids and seeing them grow into adults.
I also complement my free time with building things, literally building things around the house (barbecue pit, garage, cellar, etc.), including repairing, gardening, and working with my hands – it focuses and relaxes me.
And I like video games; I have one day a week for a “game night” with my brother; we are really bad (cause we are old now), but we enjoy it nonetheless.
If now you were starting your career, knowing the present and near future opportunities, what would you do?
If you want an honest answer, if I had the current knowledge and the time I had 12 years ago, I would start my own business and manage it. I would still want to work with people.
What are the top 3 skills that you would develop?
– People skills – people are and will be key to anything, and knowing how to work with people (all people, not just the ones you like), I believe is the greatest skill
– Organizational skill – in terms of specific knowledge, expertise, your team can help you – but being organized, efficient, effective, combined with knowing how to work with people, is in my view a very potent combination
– Data analytics – knowing how to read data about your business, about external factors, and understanding trends can help you build your strategy, make educated decisions, and really help your business and your people.
What would you do and what would you avoid doing? – practical advice to young professionals
– I would avoid: procrastinating – many people like to say they do well when they have a tight deadline, that is just an excuse to procrastinate; when it comes to personal or career growth, often you set the deadlines, and you always seem to set new ones or have excuses.
– Advice: know what you want to do, where you want to be, and take actions (clear and constructive actions) towards achieving it; do not be afraid of failing – don’t blame others when it happens and always ask yourself how you could have done better each time you fail – progress, real progress, is not fast or easy, but when it’s real, you obtain real satisfaction and balance.