A passion for both art and mathematical mysteries – it’s not a combination you come across often. And yet you’ll find it in Irina Pietroc, IT Business Analyst at Mega Image, Ahold Delhaize’s brand in Romania. After having worked in Mega Image’s Marketing department for nearly two years, she moved over to the company’s IT department. “I love the complexity of IT, the fact that it has no boundaries and the possibilities for improvement are endless. There’s just no way anyone will ever be done learning in this field.”
Two years ago, Irina started painting – walls, shirts, sneakers, denim jackets, all of it. She started it as a fun pastime, but when she posted some of her ‘work’ on Instagram, people began approaching her with custom requests. When she doesn’t paint, she writes – stories that pop into her head, letters to friends, anything. Her creative mind is a core part of her identity. Alongside her artistic side, she also has a deep love for all things pragmatic and logical. Irina refers to herself as ‘a weird mix of many things’. “I have all of these different dots in my head that I’m constantly trying to connect in different fields.”
In her job as an IT Business Analyst, she draws on all these dots. She considers her atypical background – having studied public relations and worked in marketing before joining the IT department – one of her key strengths. “You need alternative approaches to come up with the best solution. And I won’t rest until I’ve found exactly that: the best solution. In IT in particular, every day brings new mysteries and challenges that need to be solved. Roadblocks during a project, challenges that arise along the way… bring them on! For a problem-solver like me, this job is the best. Of course it can be frustrating if we don’t find an answer straight away, but as a team, we know that together we are Mega and we can fix any problem. And we always do.”
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Seeing the person, not the profile
How did Irina end up in IT in the first place? Rewind to the time before August 2021, when she still worked in digital marketing. While focusing on e-commerce and the company’s loyalty program in her marketing role, she worked closely with the IT department. “It was during this time that I slowly fell in love with IT. I liked how pragmatic the field is, in contrast to the often subjective area of marketing. When I saw a job ad for an IT Business Analyst, I jumped at the chance to apply. While I had gained a pretty good understanding of a lot of IT-related concepts from working with the IT team, what I lacked was a real education in this field. Much to my surprise, I got the job. That says a lot about the company – that it considers people’s potential more than searching for a specific profile. Mega Image looks at the bigger picture, resulting in a broader, more diverse team and way of thinking. I love that the company gives employees the freedom to express themselves and the chance to leave their unique mark on a process or project.”
A huge appetite for learning
One of the projects that Irina is busy working on is the migration from one HR software platform to another. “Just imagine how much data comes with nearly 12,000 employees – a lot! I love working on the migration, which is scheduled to go live in April 2023.
Not only has it given me tons of new mysteries to solve, but it’s also offered me the chance to learn SQL. It’s extremely important for me to keep learning, being inspired and kept on my toes in order to stay motivated. Fortunately, I’m one of those lucky few who has a job that teaches me new things every day.”
Another exciting pilot Irina’s team just launched as part of the HR software is an HR chatbot. “Colleagues can chat to the bot via Teams and ask her any questions they might have about sick days, as well as ask for forms or hand in a leave request. It’s a small project with a big impact: the time that staff used to spend going to HR for these matters can now be spent on other tasks. We’re effectively giving people back time, which is the most precious resource. I love building and creating things that really have an impact.”
A drive to learn is also a theme in Irina’s personal life. Her curiosity, active mind and need for the occasional adrenaline rush push her in all kinds of directions. She’s been an avid mountain biker for years, and also just started training to get her motorbike license. A trip to Tenerife to learn how to surf is on the agenda soon, too. “But of all of it, what I love most is being in the mountains, either hiking or on my mountain bike. Within our Mega Community we have a team that competes in Romanian mountains corporate races every now and then. We even won recently!”
Embracing the “weirdness”
In the past, Irina sometimes found her “weirdness” a slight challenge. “I was always a bit of an imposter, not entirely sure of who I was or what my strengths were. When I started embracing my creative side, everything became much easier. It changed the way I looked at myself and did wonders for my self-confidence. Today, I have an alien head tattooed on my arm, reminding me to never stop feeding my curiosity. I now see my original, unique personality as something to be proud of!”
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Name: Irina-Nicoleta Pietroc (1994)
Started working at Delhaize Romania (Mega Image): November 2017
Studied: MA Public Relations (Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 2018)
Hobbies: Painting, mountain biking and snowboarding
Wake me up in the middle of the night for: A mystery that needs to be solved
Favorite holiday destination: Any mountain peak
Life-changing event: Acknowledging my “weird” creative side
Biggest source of inspiration: People who follow their passions
Best advice I’ve ever received: “You only live once,” which is also my life motto
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