Tell us more about yourself. What is your background? What were you doing before you began working at the EIB?
I’m Ming and I've been living in the UK for 30 years. I come from a corporate background (IT industry), where I spent 25 years of my working career. Like most people, I started as a junior and then worked my way up to senior level. I'm now located in Luxembourg, where I started my new job in the middle of the pandemic.
Was that challenging for you to start a job in the middle of a pandemic?
Absolutely. I was lucky that I was able to fly out in early December last year before England went back into another lockdown. When I first moved out to Luxembourg, the country soon went into lockdown and so it made it harder to get to know my new colleagues and make new connections.
How did Halian approach you?
Jenny Dastroy from the Halian team approached me through LinkedIn, asking whether I was interested in a job in Luxembourg. I’ve always loved travelling so I was open to the idea of relocating - I saw it as a new adventure and a great way to broaden my horizons. I asked myself, "why not?" - I've asked for the job specification, and before we knew it, we went through a process of second and third interviews. They offered me a position, and I accepted.
So you relocated from the UK to Luxembourg for this specific role?
Exactly.
For your first interview, did you have to fly to Luxembourg, or the process was online?
The interviews, both with Halian and the client - a European Institution, were remote. A week later, they offered me the job, so I arrived just before Christmas. It was a bit scary initially, being alone in a new place, new people, new everything. But I felt blessed and privileged being here, and everyone made me feel very welcome within the company. Halian was also kind enough to put me up in accommodation for the first 2-3 weeks after I arrived.
How do you find Luxembourg?
When I first moved, it was hard as I found myself in the middle of lockdown. The place was quiet and I couldn't go out and explore the city right away. It was challenging, but it was my decision to come, and I don't regret it at all.
How are you finding the place now when things are slowly opening up?
It's pretty good, especially now I’m able to meet up with and get to know my colleagues. It’s much better because I'm very sociable and now I get to meet them in person.
Can you tell us more about your position?
My initial job involves being both a Backup & Storage Engineer and a Team Leader and now I’m managing not only Backup & Storage, but also the VMware team.
Were you working on a specific project within EIB?
No, because I'm part of Actium-IO, where Halian is a service provider. Within the infrastructure/operations, we have seven different departments: Linux, Windows, Monitoring tools, and more. I've been working in the Backup operations and at that time, we were in the middle of a big project, but I wasn't brought in because of it, I was part of it - supporting the operation and infrastructure. Along came a different project, so I ended up managing the operation of the first one and was involved in the second (BAU plus project). The second one was SDDC backup migration, where basically, we had to turn the physical infrastructure into a virtual one. At that time, we were recruiting more members of the team, so a large part of my role was to pre-screen potential candidates and onboarding, working very closely with Carolina and Jenny from Halian and the rest of Actium-IO Talent Management teams.
How did you build the relationship with the company? How were you reassured that this is a company you can trust?
I'm a pretty outgoing person, I love talking to people and felt really comfortable meeting the people in my team. I felt very welcomed by the company and felt I could always contact anyone from Halian for any information I needed. I’m definitely still working on improving my French, but I’m getting there!
What's next now?
When I first started as a Backup & Storage Team Leader, there was another team called VMware, which consisted of 5 people. About two months ago, I also took on looking after both VMware and Backup & Storage. I saw it as a positive opportunity to grow and all part of my constant learning. So next for me is lots of training and courses from the VMware side and SDDC to better understand the new environment. It’s an exciting time as there's a new upskilling training plan in the pipeline for both me and my team. There’s also another new project coming up for the EIB.
What would you say makes Halian unique?
Halian is unique because of its team, that aligns a candidate’s current state with what the future would hold. One of their main focuses is the client service - the team is transparent to our client about all the things we do. Not only is the atmosphere friendly, but there are also opportunities for progress with the company. Providing accommodation was also a really positive thing, while I found my place. Not every company would do that.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to relocate to Luxembourg?
Definitely take up the opportunity to relocate. There are many reasons, as for me, it’s the multicultural and diversity environment. Luxembourg has beautiful landscapes if you enjoy outdoors activities. I like travelling too so Luxembourg is a bonus for me as I can quickly travel to neighboring countries. On the flip side of the coin, the cost of accommodation is high and there’s less lively place compared to other European cities.
