From her first day as an intern, Sien Meeuwissen impressed us with her passion and emerging talent. She has quickly grown into an indispensable member of our team, taking on more responsibility and continuously pushing her own boundaries.
The most important thing for me is that Auxility truly looked at who I was and what I needed from them to thrive. They give you the support to grow in a way that fits your own personality and your interests.
Sien was already into IT from the early age of six. Her parents often rehash the story, she says, of how young Sien discovered computers and never really stopped playing around with them. By the time high school came up, Sien confidently chose to study applied computer science. When she graduated however, she wasn’t entirely sure this was the path for her. She gave some other studies a shot, but … The IT bug remained too strong. She therefore enrolled in the graduate course in systems and network management.
When the time came to choose an internship, she pondered a choice between two companies, among them Auxility. She says she felt welcome, saw herself working here and ultimately made the choice to come on board because we offered her the opportunity to really delve into the server aspect of IT. That’s where her true passion lies. Sometimes, it can keep her so occupied that she’s still going at it enthusiastically at 2am. As both Sien and we were very pleased with the way her internship went, we proposed a permanent contract which she happily accepted!
Like every Junior Support Engineer at Auxility, Sien started as a first-line support engineer. For those unfamiliar with the term: it means that the engineer is in close contact with the end user who is facing a particular issue. Only when the problem turns out to be too complex, or if it concerns more than one user, does it progress from first to second or even third line. Sien has improved so quickly that she’s already covering second-line tasks! In fact, she’s increasingly evolving in her role and taking on more and more extra responsibilities. By now, she’s become a valuable assistant for the first-, second- and third-lines Teamlead, and handles ticket management, follows up on escalations, takes care of administrative tasks and social media, and more.
We find it important at Auxility that everyone can progress at their own pace and in their preferred direction. As Sien said that she’d like to become a Project Manager with technical knowhow, we made sure she’d get all the opportunities to get there. To that effect, we enable frequent coaching moments in which she can tell us what’s going well, what she’d like to change or try, and so on. When we ask her about it, she always points out that she feels fully supported.
For Sien, the variation in her job is what gives her the energy to keep pursuing extra challenges. She can switch from ticketing to writing a blogpost to handling administration to her liking. Then there are escalations. The tricky yet fun part (in her opinion) about those is that you don’t know if and when they’re coming. If so, you’re suddenly immersed in thoroughly investigating the problem and finding the root cause of the mishap. That sort of thing is what keeps her on her toes, she says, contributing to the job’s diversity.
With a broad smile, Sien acknowledged and assured us that she’s here to stay! A true ambassador of Auxility, she even shared some advice for those unsure whether to join our team: she feels that we truly looked at who she was and what she needed from us to thrive within the Auxility team. We are glad to hear it, as it’s true that we want our colleagues to have that experience. You can start working here in a way that fits your personality and modus operandi. Oh, and there’s one last thing that Sien wanted us to tell you. We welcome each and every person here, no matter your background, colour, race, or (dis)ability. And Sien would really love an extra female colleague, we’re just putting that out there…
Great to have you with us, Sien!
