Solution Architect: Doing It the (B)right Way
Sergey Aleksandrov got his first job in April 2010 when he joined the Sofia-based team of an international retail firm as a business applications consultant. As he gained valuable practical experience, he realized he would like to pursue a career in the IT sector that went beyond the confines of pure programming because, as he puts it, he prefers people to machines.
Over time, Sergey developed a passion for Information Technology Infrastructure Library, or ITIL. He asked one of his colleagues, an ITIL expert, to recommend study materials and give him advice so that he could specialize in the field. His request fell on deaf years. Soon after, several employees had the chance to enroll in an ITIL course paid by the firm. Although his supervisors and peers knew about his aspirations to master ITIL, he didn’t land on the list of course participants.
Disappointed by the lack of company support for his career development plans, Sergey started thinking about finding another job. The situation got worse due to changes in the company’s policies that led to layoffs. On the same day he learnt about more layoffs coming up, he received a job offer from Bright Consulting via LinkedIn. He didn’t think twice.
Where motivation comes before qualifications
Sergey holds a B.A. in informatics and an M.A. in IT services from Sofia University. When he joined Bright in the summer of 2012, he had no experience with Remedy. However, he had experience in the incident, problem, and request management, all of which are Remedy modules.
‘At the job interviews here, it’s not so important what experience you have or what you have studied. The important thing is to honest and motivated,’ Sergey says.
He remembers that during his final interview at Bright, the CEO explained to him that while he wasn’t the best candidate, he stood out with his motivation to learn and develop at the job. This approach surprised him at first but it also inspired him, because he was about to join a company that counted on his potential to live up to its high expectations.
Starting out as an application developer, Sergey has since served as BMC Remedy consultant and senior ITSM and automation consultant. As a senior solution architect today, he assists clients in system integration and automation. Among his favorite projects so far are the implementation of the BMC Remedy on Demand Interface for Telekom Austria Group (Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia) and the implementation of BMC Remedy ITSM for Si.mobil Slovenia.
Learning among friends
You may wonder what happened to Sergey’s dream of conquering ITIL. Here is the story in a nutshell. With Bright’s financial and moral support, he has acquired five ITIL certifications in three years and trained 12 colleagues, all of whom have passed their ITIL exams successfully.
Sergey appreciates the wealth of opportunities he has at Bright to do the kind of work he enjoys, as well as the company’s focus on results, not bureaucracy. What he likes the most, however, is the friendly spirit within the team.
On the one hand, Sergey is happy to work in an organization whose leaders care about the people working there. For example, four years ago he was dispatched to work on a project in Switzerland for four months. Even though he came back prematurely due to health issues, not only did the managers treat him respectfully but they gave him the best employee award for that year. On the other hand, Sergey feels even more motivated because the team members support one another in and outside the office. He loves the place so much that he has referred more than 10 people to the company, with some of his colleagues teasing him that in addition to working as a solution architect, he also works for the human resources and sales teams.
‘We are friends working in the same place,’ he says. ‘We spend time together on Saturdays and Sundays [and] after work – not because we don’t have other friends, but because we want to be precisely with these people.’
You think Bright is the right place for you?
Then check our Career page to learn about the job opportunities we offer at the moment.
– Daniel Penev
