Company:
Alfresco Ltd

Industry sector:
Opensource Software

Background:
Studied French from the age of nine at school and then took French and German at GCSE with French at A-Level. I went on to study BA Hons Modern Languages (French & Italian) at Coventry University which also gave me an opportunity to study Spanish in addition to the core languages.  The degree was predominantly a business language course.

Language skills:
Native English speaker, fluent in Italian & French. I also understand Spanish and speak basic German and Portuguese.

How would you describe your job?
I am the primary contact for Key EMEA accounts whilst I also act as a customer advocate, this means that I mediate when customers are having problems, liaising with the right people in the company to get the right answers to help resolve the issues in the shortest time possible. From conference calls to face-to-face meetings (see my typical day below) I make sure that I am approachable and available at all times to work through any problems and make sure customers continue to be customers. This means using, understanding and conversing in the languages I know and picking ones that I don’t in order to be able to cover the whole of the region that I am responsible for Europe, Middle East and Africa in addition to this I need to take part in regular meeting with both our US and APAC offices.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
The variation of languages! I have the opportunity to hear foreign languages everyday and work and travel in a truly multilingual organisation. I also have the added bonus of working with a product I feel passionate about – Opensource technology. There is a huge community following for Alfresco, it is more than something you just buy and install, the people that use the Alfresco products feel passionately about them to want to develop them further. I work with a plethora of knowledgeable people based around the globe working together to deliver a great service to our customers.

What kind of skills and qualities do you need?
Knowledge of IT and computers, naturally, but more importantly for this job you need to be a real people person. I get on well with all types of people and have to be able to see and understand a problem from lots of different points of view. You need to be proud about your work and really want to help people but at the same time not take things too personally, taking the time and being patient when things aren’t going right. This doesn't always mean that you have to have a qualification in psychology lots of things I have learnt have been from listening and learning from the people I have met in my school, work and life so far.

What’s a typical day for you?
It varies greatly. A morning might start with an escalation from a Spanish partner perhaps followed up by a French customer who is having difficulty with their account. By the afternoon I could be flying to Milan, Italy in time for a Partner Event there the following day not forgetting to quickly call the Germany and Netherlands Country Managers at the airport to feedback on the latest developments concerning their cases - I am affectionately known as the company’s PM for EMEA!