Were you always a Consultant at Sopra Steria?
I have worked on 4 projects involving 4 different public bodies at European and national level, and I switched between being a Business Analyst and Consultant. As a Business Analyst, I was a translator between the business part and the technical part of an IT project. I had to refine business needs in cooperation with business owners and define use cases and user stories. Being a Business Analyst was at first entirely out of my comfort zone, and very challenging, but I learned a lot in experiencing the challenges of large IT project involving various stakeholders and using different methodologies.
I am currently ending a mission as a Consultant on a HLS & Defence project of the Ministry of Interior in France. Our Team accompanied the client to coordinate and support the implementation of European regulations on European Information Systems at national level. We had to define business needs and interact both with the technical and strategical part of the project to conduct the test strategy and design the roadmap according to the upcoming EU legislation on European Information Systems. Even if the work I do in this project is at a very little scale, on 1 European Information System, in 1 only country, I have the feeling that my work really has an impact.
Besides this project, I am also working on European funding, and I am part of the EU task force at Group level.
What are the most important qualities for a Consultant?
When you start your career, you arrive in a new ecosystem, and you are talking to experts who know their topic very well. You need to learn quickly, be a good listener and observer and have strong communication skills. You also need to have confidence to bring your ideas and propositions to the table.
Why do you think other people should join Sopra Steria?
Sopra Steria is the place to be if you are curious about IT and want to grow every day while working on topics in projects you never thought you would work on. You will join a dynamic team, have flexibility, and be part of something that is evolving. You can also join well-known, bigger companies that are already settled on the market, but what I like about Sopra Steria Benelux is that we are growing and that you can be part of this evolution.
Fun fact
If Pauline could switch jobs with someone else at Sopra Steria for 1 day, she wants to be the Public Sector Business Unit director.
How would you explain Sopra Steria’s culture?
Diverse, open and friendly, at all levels of the company. We have the freedom to do our work the way we want to, and there is a lot of flexibility. We work hard, but there is definitely time to have fun at Sopra Steria, for example during afterworks or the GPTW party that was organised in Chalet Robinson. I would say that Sopra Steria Benelux really listens to junior profiles when they have ideas and the management is accessible and really trusts us, and this is very important for me.
At Sopra Steria Benelux, you will have the opportunity to work on a lot of different projects, so you must have this kind of willingness to change and to learn about various topics.
Sopra Steria has a strong focus on trainings, so they really want employees to grow. Having a Proximity Manager helps with this. My Proximity Manager and I sit together to see what I want to do in the coming months and years, inside Sopra Steria but also outside. I am for example in a very specific situation, because I am working and studying full time and the company really supports me in this, and I believe this would not be possible in another company. I think this is really a great system.
Fun fact
If Sopra Steria was an animal, Pauline thinks it would be a turtle, because Sopra Steria may be moving slowly, but we are always on track and moving forward. Sometimes it may take some time before an idea really kicks off, but in the end, when you put a turtle against a rabbit, the turtle wins.