Larisa Ciobanasu always had a talent for finding solutions at work and at home. But when she discovered the Generation Oracle program, it was clear that a solution had finally found her. Now, she’s a successful member of our account cloud engineering organization.
Rewarding
GenO isn’t your traditional career development program. Here, there’s space to lead your own development and grow with us. Ideas and curiosity are valued, and you’re encouraged to bring your authentic self to every challenge. It was always going to be a natural fit for Larisa.
Fresh from tackling a BSc in Information Systems and Information Technology at Technical University Dublin, she’s now enjoying full-time employment in her dream career. Looking back, it’s been a long, but rewarding road. “Going to university as a mature undergraduate student has been the best decision of my career life, but not the easiest one ever,” she says. “All success involves a sacrifice and mine was I won’t be the perfect parent, but my son will understand it—and he did. His mum is an engineer!”
Passion for technology
While studying, Larisa was able to combine her passion for technology and helping people in an unlikely place: airport security.
“While working in a busy international airport as a security officer doing twelve-hour shifts, I was trying to think of different solutions I could try to apply my IT skills. I had the chance to help passengers by doing leaflets in Photoshop in different languages to help them with the security protocol.” This inspired her to try more ambitious projects and reflect on how she’d like to apply her skills elsewhere.
Thinking ahead
“It felt amazing to see I could help. I thought the only way to increase my chances to change my career completely was to start small and turn ideas into small projects so I could discover what I would like my IT path to be.”
As Larisa neared graduation, she knew it was time to start thinking ahead. After years of juggling education, work and raising a family—she was almost ready for the career move she’d planned for so long. But first, she needed to network.
“Close to graduation, I started contacting companies to see if my knowledge was enough to make a start. I was facing a lot of issues in my research as I didn’t have the contacts! Everyone talks about connections and how it’s harder to get an interview with big companies. I thought to myself ‘that’s my aim’. I started by creating a LinkedIn account, asking all my close connections—family, friends from college—to add me and help me research my next role.”
Interview
Larisa’s efforts paid off when she secured work experience with a front-end development company. After spending some time developing her skills, she discovered Oracle and GenO. But first, she had to interview.
“I still remember the call with the recruiter. Many feelings came into my head, a mixture of anxious, happy, nervous, excited, lucky, and overwhelmed. All I heard was interview. Trying to keep calm and start preparing was next.”
“The first thing I did was to check the location and visualize myself working there. I read about Oracle’s products, their vision and tried to understand how I could contribute. I also messaged current employees on LinkedIn to get information about work-life balance, as it matters a lot to me.”
The move from industry outsider to insider can be tough for newcomers. That’s why Oracle experts like to lend a hand with advice on getting hired that anyone can access. Resources like The 6-step plan to getting hired at Oracle and Top tips to prepare for an interview go a long way to setting candidates up for success. “Reading the company blogs was another useful factor,” she says. “You can relate with so many stories and know that you are not alone.”
A new chapter
“I did other interviews before and couldn’t believe how welcoming and friendly everyone was,” Larisa says. “The day the recruiter called and offered me the role I had to check the number again as you can imagine how amazing that felt!”
Before she knew it, Larisa was on the program and ready to open a new chapter in her career. She quicky realized that she wouldn’t be alone. “When the on-boarding started, we had so much help from all the team. Everyone took time to join our calls and help us with the best guidance.”
This support carried on throughout the program, building her confidence while giving her the freedom to grow.
Diversity
She believes this went a long way to guaranteeing her success: “During the training I was always encouraged to be myself and combine my life skills and character with my professional role. The program gave us an opportunity to meet different people from other departments to understand better what our path will look like.”
Diversity and inclusion played a big part in this, and she enjoyed seeing how diverse abilities and backgrounds added up to a great workplace.
Recognizing achievement
“I’m always interested in other people’s work experience, as you never know what great things you can find out, which might help in the future. The culture also helped me concentrate on what I like because of the diversity within the company.”
She also felt a real sense of achievement during GenO thanks to frequent recognition of her progress. “I was nominated for different milestones and won an award too. It is great to see your efforts recognized, and this only motivated me to learn more.”
Buddy system
While training, she had time to meet the team and get up to speed with how they worked. She also discovered an unexpected perk—her own dedicated buddy.
“We were assigned a buddy from day one and let me tell you this is the best thing when you start and don’t know anyone. He always answered my questions, helped to get access, and planned small tasks for me to learn more about front-end development.”
After graduating from the program, Larisa felt drawn to the account cloud engineering organization, where she works today.
Every path is unique
“I have a big interest in finding solutions for our customers and I work closely with the sales team to ensure they receive the best outcomes for their investments. Within this role I can combine all the skills I learned during my Generation Oracle training. “My new team and manager have offered so much support with my role, so I really consider myself lucky.”
She’s learned a lot on her career journey so far, but one thing that’s become clear is that success takes many different forms: “In life you should always remember your path is unique even though the destination is like many other people’s.”
Do you want to fast-track your tech career like Larisa? Join a company that supports women to thrive, while recognizing their unique abilities and background.