We Celebrated Lia’s 4th Anniversary at Human Direct

This week we celebrated our veteran team member, Lia on her 4th anniversary at Human Direct. Lia is not only a part of our team, but we can firmly say that she is a driving force in the company. We celebrated Lia with many jokes, surprises and gifts, but before we jump into that we want to share with you Lia’s story at Human Direct.

Lia has proven her devotion and loyalty many times and nonetheless her professionalism and skills in coordinating large-scale recruitment projects. She was the first person to join us when Human Direct was at its very beginnings, and we must admit that the value it brought into the company contributed to the success Human Direct enjoys today. But let’s go back to the beginning.

How we met Lia, Human Direct’s key player

Erika remembers the times before Lia, with humour and nostalgia:

"We have made it difficult for us to find the right person for the job, because I was an organizational psychologist and so I have built up a very extensive psychological profile for the position; my friends were making jokes that I will be growing old alone in Human Direct and still I will not find the person I was looking for."

This was because, besides the skills and competencies of the position, we were looking for someone who is authentic, congruent, and honest, with an intrinsic motivation for IT and HR. In addition, we wanted someone with values and principles compatible with ours, people-oriented, with a positive attitude that would energize everybody around. We wanted a loyal person who would be at our side even when the going would get tough.

And when we were showing the loss of all hope, that’s when Lia came into play and changed the entire game. This happened 4 years and a few days ago, on July 18, 2013 to be more exact, the day we found the right person after long, and arduous searches.

Surprisingly and unexpectedly, we found all this and more at Lia. Ever since, Lia is and has been a key player at Human Direct. Her exceptional skills and character has led her to become one of the company’s management team.

But let’s get to know Lia better and the story behind the myth, the legend. Colleagues know what I mean :)

Interview with the myth, the legend, Lia Ganea

1. Why did you choose to specialize in IT recruitment?

It was a happy coincidence, I may say. In the internship program I attended before coming to Human Direct, I was involved in the first IT recruitment projects for .Net and Silverlight roles. I also had the opportunity to participate in a market survey related to the preferences of programmers in terms of motivation, employers etc. Somehow I have always been fascinated by the IT field, because my brother is working in this industry and seeing the way he moved upwards professionally, and the way he built his career was totally different from what I was seeing around me (he was a role model for me). I thought it would be great to have interviews and recruit people like him.

Everything came into play when Erika found me and I joined Human Direct. Coincidence or not, it was the exact time I decided that IT recruitment is what I want to do. This was a great chance for me because I had a great mentor, Erika, who would always explains to me and give me advice every step of the way. She was patient with me she would always encourage me to speak my mind and to leave my imprint on my working strategy. And then, with every job I recruited, every interview, and with every new IT technology I studied, I was discovering how much enthusiasm I had working in IT recruitment.

2. Do you have favorite companies or technologies?

Regarding IT companies, I think there are several influencing factors, starting with how much information we receive about a position, the company, the team and the project. I like to work a lot for management positions, because every style of leadership I've seen so far has been interesting to me. This is also reflected in the interviews, where I discuss more about their vision, how they interact with the team or how they pursue business goals, and for me it's fascinating. I like the companies that prioritize the potential of their programming specialists and their passion for IT. In this sense, I had the opportunity to discuss with amazing people who created very interesting projects in their free time, who revealed their vision regarding a particular technology or approach.

I think we all like to recruit Senior Experts on Python or Automated Testing because this is such an exciting challenge for us all.

3. What do you like most about your work?

There are several things I equally enjoy about my work. I would start by mentioning the interviews and discussions I have with the specialists in the IT field. I like to discover their personality, to understand their vision and the direction they want to pursue in their career so I can help them achieve their desired goals. It is also wonderful to be able to create a bridge between these people and our partners. I like having the opportunity to collaborate with various companies, to discover their organizational cultures and the people who define them. I like to come to work every morning and I have some unique experiences every day. I was lucky enough to grow under the guidance of two exceptional managers like Erika and Csabi, who have taught me to be flexible and to see the challenge in every activity.

4. What was for you the most hilarious day at Human Direct?

There has been more than one funny day or moments, especially at the beginning of my work at Human Direct. But one of the most hilarious ones was the day I had to hold an interview, while the Gendarmerie officers were rehearsing for their anniversary practicing the helicopter landing right on our building. I and the interviewee tried to ignore the noise until the tree branches began to hit the windows. At that moment, we lost all coherence in our discussion, especially as we began to hear people crying out in the street, and so we figured we might want to see what was all about out there. There were broken branches and leaves everywhere, and an old lady panic shouting that we were under attack ... you can imagine that it was quite hilarious. We both had a good laughed and ended the interview amused. It is fortunate that most people in IT have a good sense of humour, and this is another reason why I feel in my element at my job.

5. How do you find your colleagues’s jokes calling you „The legend and Mother of Recruiting”?

I take them as they are, jokes, and I think it's very healthy and sane to not take ourselves to seriously from time to time. In the same note, Ana is the "Recruitment Ballerina" and Andreea the "Recruitment Unicorn". It is the type of humor that characterizes us very well and in my case it is an important part of my life (I am referring to humor). It proves how well we know each other too.

How we celebrated Lia’s 4th anniversary at Human Direct

Well, we dedicated this Tuesday to Lia. For this, we all made her special drawings, with the theme "How it is to work with Lia". Erika made a very colorful drawing of Lia, representing her cheerful, positive and vibrant personality. She drew 6 hands instead of 2, symbolizing the help and assistance she offers those around her.

Csabi has symbolically drawn a roundabout intersection as if saying "All the roads lead to Lia" but not only this, they also return to her. His drawing once again expressed the vital position that Lia has in Human Direct.

Ana made a symbolic and epic collage inspired by The Game of Thrones, in which Lia is Khalesi's Empress of Human Direct, the breaker of myths and the mother of recruiting. For her, Lia embodies dedication and passion both for her work as well as for the Human Direct team. Her colorful laughter, curiosity and humor, which blend perfectly with her overall qualities are the things Ana appreciates mostly about Lia.

Andreea, made her a more personal gift, she wrote her a letter because she felt like making her a more personal gift.

The other surprise we had for Lia was the lego cake, because she is a big Lego fan, with the representative message: "The woman, The Myth, The Legend". Why? Some of the candidates call Lia a legend, because in these 4 years at Human Direct, she has talked with a lot of IT professionals, with whom she built very good relationships.

Four years ago, Lia was joining our start-up with a lot of hope and enthusiasm. Today we rely on Lia's decisions and we want to thank her from the bottom of our hearts for choosing to join Human Direct, both for better and for worse. Without your help and skill, we wouldn’t have made it today as one of the best IT recruitment companies in Cluj-Napoca. Lia, we want to thank you again for your dedication, devotion and professionalism. We also thank you for the positive energy you are charging us with and especially because you believed in us and you were for us from the very beginning. Lia, you are a very a special person for us all and we want to truly thank you for that. May you have many more and happy anniversaries at Human Direct!

The beautiful weather outside allowed us to take some photos with the whole team in our lovely garden. We leave you with some pictures from Lia’s 4^th anniversary celebration at Human Direct, which we want to share with you.