From sunny Dubai to snowy Luxembourg, from a resource delivery consultant to a client manager, from being shy to becoming one of Halian’s best negotiators. Read our interview with Anna to find out if her path to success was easy and which personality trait helped her the most in her journey.
Who are you, and how did your experience with Halian started?
My name is Anna Lytvynenko, I'm Ukrainian, and I joined Halian Dubai in November 2018. I already had experience in IT recruitment and was searching for a job. I had an offer in place when a resource delivery consultant from Halian approached me, wondering if I’m still interested in another job offer. Long story short, within a day, I had my interview and had an offer in place. From my experience, it was the fastest hire ever.
What is your role in Halian?
I joined Halian as a resource delivery consultant, and recently I was promoted to client manager here in Luxembourg. I’m managing the BFSI (Banking, Financial Services & Insurance) domain. Primarily I’m working with large banks and large system integrators. Right now, I’m managing a system integration company customer. They originate from the USA, but they’re very present in Luxembourg and deploy projects mainly for the financial domain. Currently, I’m managing these clients and their delivery.
How did you end up moving to the Luxembourg office?
I was with Halian Dubai for a year and a couple of months, but I've always been a European girl, and I don't tolerate the heat. I love Dubai, but I always knew I belonged in a four-season environment. I love Europe and travelling, and in Dubai, I couldn't really travel that much. Stuart Fry - Halian’s Managing Director for MENA, approached me to talk about my career progression. There was a chance of growth for me in the company, so I mentioned that I'd love to consider relocating to Europe. I got in touch with Levon, and, typically in the Halian way, the process was very fast. I decided to relocate because it's Europe, because of the climate and because I wanted to travel. I got my Visa in place and relocated in February 2020. You can imagine what it is to relocate from a 25 degree Dubai in February to snowy Luxembourg. Despite this, it was easy, and I didn't think about the complications of relocation. I thought about what the result would be - that I would be able to travel a lot. The difficulty was that I got here in February, where only two weeks later, we all shut down for lockdown due to Covid19, so I stayed at home. But I was in touch with my friends in Dubai, and I'm proud of how both governments handle the lockdown. And again, I started travelling in the summer - I went everywhere.
Who has influenced you most when it comes to how you approach your work?
Definitely my mom. She is an English teacher, and she is always motivating me to jump over my head and that nothing is ever good enough. It's obviously hard at the same time as it's beneficial within the work ethic. I got this perfectionism side of my character from her. Like, right now, I've done these four deals, and I'm very happy that the management team appraised me for this, and they acknowledge it, it is a significant accomplishment within the first month of a new position, but to me, it’s not enough. I still consider those deals as a success, but I specialise in high-end profiles, so I would love to place candidates from that range, and we're working on that.
What behaviour or personality trait do you most attribute your success to, and why?
I love my job because, for me, it's fun, and if you perceive anything in your life and your career as fun and you take it on a personal level, it’s great. I'm friends with all of my candidates; from the very first initial phone call, I try to break the ice right from the start, be on the same page with them, and be very transparent. I’m very straightforward, so I tell them that they shouldn’t waste their time, especially the clients’ time, if they’re really interested in the position. What pushes me forward is my straightforwardness. I’m always in competition with myself, and the fact that I’m having fun doing all of this.
If you could snap your fingers and become an expert in something, what would it be?
When it comes to dealing with clients and candidates, I sometimes lack solidity. When I negotiate, I wish I was harsher and didn’t feel bad for people. I was horrible at negotiating initially when going to Halian, but my colleagues are excellent teachers, and I learned a lot from them on how to be confident. Every single salesperson has their tricks and little buttons to push on how to get this done, so now I can say I'm much better and much more confident when it comes to negotiation because simply it's all about practice. So if I could snap my fingers and become an expert in something, it would be to try being tougher when negotiating.
What’s one interesting fact about your home country?
I love the fact that we are sincere, straightforward and hard-working. I'm dealing with many nationalities thanks to Halian. In terms of talking to clients and candidates, I really appreciate our sincereness and the fact that it’s easy for us to open our soul to any person.
What’s one favourite thing about Luxembourg?
I love everything about Luxembourg, and I love our team here. I look up to Martin Sokolowski - my direct manager. He is always optimistic and is one of my role models here. The team is very welcoming. In terms of just the country, I love the fact that I can travel anywhere, that's my favourite part of it. I like how the government manages everything, and I feel very secure. I also love the fact that there’s a lot of green areas in the country. # Fire Questions:
Favourite day of the week?
Depending on the country - in Dubai, it was Friday. Here in Luxembourg, it’s Saturday.
Texting or talking?
Texting.
Big dogs or small dogs?
Big dogs, definitely.
Giving presents or getting presents?
Giving presents.
Are tomatoes fruits or vegetables?
Vegetables.
Save or Spend?
The mature side of me says both, but, of course, spend.
