From IT support department to Microsoft consultant. Career potential at Sii Poland

How can determination and a desire for change transform a career path? Hubert Piechowiak, Microsoft Business Applications Consultant at Sii Polska, who set his sights on new challenges and turned them into a successful career journey, shares his story. From working in IT support to a consultant position — read the interview and discover the potential for growth at Sii and the supportive environment that makes it possible.

You joined Sii in 2019. What made you decide to work for our organization?

Before starting my adventure with Sii, I worked in various fields. I was a Help Desk employee for the longest time, where I remotely supported users in solving their daily technical problems. In 2019, I longed for a change and sought a new job. I searched for a while until I came across a recruitment at Sii, which ended positively for me, and I could join Power People.

I had always wanted to work as a typical “Mr. IT” — a tongue-in-cheek — IT Crowd. At Sii, I got this opportunity, and thanks to it, I spread my wings — the company offered various development opportunities, which were often lacking in the job market. I took advantage of this and am still here today!

What were your first days at the company like?

The first days were great! I joined a big, cool corporation and met great people. I liked the freedom and the opportunity to do my dream job — to perform tasks I enjoy. I appreciated the openness and directness in conversations, which is advisable and important in my work. I was pleasantly surprised to see that procedures are followed and employees carry out their tasks as intended, which is not always the standard. Finally, what impressed me the most was the sense of unity and professionalism.

You initially worked as an IT Support Specialist. How did your career progress at Sii?

As I mentioned earlier, I started as just “Mr. IT,” and that’s exactly how I imagined the position. I found myself excelling in my tasks, and the job helped me hone my soft skills. The tremendous opportunities for growth that Sii provided and the need to be professional but also well-liked as an IT Support Specialist very effectively steered me in the right direction. My skills and knowledge in IT also increased — it was amazing to learn new and sometimes surprising things.

After team changes, I became Site Security Officer of Sii’s Poznań branch. Here, I continued to develop and gain interesting experience, such as reporting security incidents.

As an IT Support Specialist, I talked to many people, including Dynamics 365 consultants, who inspired me to progress further. I liked the concept of such work and decided to develop myself in this direction.

Tell us more about the work of a consultant. What are the opportunities for development in this position?

Working as a consultant is, colloquially speaking, a completely different story — though not always as it may seem. Consultants do all sorts of things: they are testers, analysts, support staff, technical writers, and so on. All this is done to ensure the client has the best possible experience when they come into contact with our product.

If someone walked into our project room and asked what a consultant’s job entails, everyone would point out something different. Although the Power Platform unites us, the tasks are varied and depend on the client.

The next very interesting aspect of this job is the opportunity to participate in multiple projects at the same time. Project changes happen often (each client is a separate project). Consequently, a new project means different tasks, which rules out monotony. As for me, I prefer the creative process, which involves a lot of intellectual effort. Nonetheless, when the specific process or functionality you have worked on becomes operational, the satisfaction is incredible. It’s worth noting that the consultant’s path offers opportunities to grow in various directions – such as becoming an analyst or an architect.

What have been the biggest challenges you have encountered along your career path?

The most difficult part of my job is the ability to communicate effectively with clients. There are situations that become problematic due to the different parties’ understanding of an issue. What is clear to me may not be so to the other person, leading to challenges. Sometimes, it’s not easy to find common ground, and it’s necessary to verify professionally whether we really mean the same thing. On the other hand, once this is accomplished, work picks up. On the positive side, with increasing experience, the challenges appear less complicated.

In 2021, you took advantage of the Job Changer program and became a Junior Consultant for Microsft Dynamics 365 CRM. What was the reason for this change?

When thinking about my career path, I once wanted to become a tester, but due to various circumstances, I abandoned the idea. Looking further for an idea for myself, I decided that I would develop as a “support person” in general — however, this, too, was verified by fate. I took advantage of Job Changer and chose the path of a consultant. As I said before, I talked to people a lot and was curious about what it was like to work in different places.

Becoming a consultant turned out to be the most interesting option for me, as it combined my existing experience (customer support) and many other things that were important to me. Looking back at my career path, I realize that joining Sii already meant a giant leap in development for me, and the rest was a stroke of luck. I’m thrilled that everything turned out just the way it did!

How would you rate the support you received from the Job Changer program?

Job Changer is definitely one of the best programs available to Workers at Sii. I have not encountered the ability to change jobs, specifically positions, and stay in the same environment before in the job market. I think this is an amazing opportunity for someone who wants to change something or decides to change jobs.

What motivates you the most in your daily work?

The atmosphere and the people. I was lucky, and the people I work with are great — open to discussing all sorts of professional and private topics. I think that we are a super harmonious team. I’ve also managed to get promoted, and I’m already a regular, which has also been a fantastic motivating boost. I’m trying to continue growing and hope it will only improve with time.

To whom would you recommend working at Sii?

I can recommend working at Sii to anyone, of course, as long as they can find a suitable position. Year after year, Sii is at the top of the Great Place to Work survey, and that must mean something. Many interesting Power People are working here, who also share common interests. Plenty of thematic interest groups (Communities) at Sii often involve exciting events, such as encouraging sports challenges. Among the more than 50 benefits, we have an exceptionally interesting and original one: Profit Sharing (in which the company shares profits with its employees). I also encountered it for the first time in my life and was very positively surprised. I recommend this employer.