If you are looking for a new “work adventure” on top of your day-to-day job, this is the right place to be. EISMEA supports career development at both team and agency level through targeted initiatives and programmes designed to help staff grow professionally and build new skills in different settings.
What is your current role at the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA), and what are your main responsibilities?
As a Contract Agent in the Compliance Team, I help make sure EISMEA’s processes, finances, and daily work follow EU rules and internal procedures. I support colleagues across the Agency by helping them identify risks, report problems, and improve how they work. In short, I help keep things running smoothly by making sure internal rules are clear, up to date, and well shared.
What motivated you to apply for a statutory staff position at EISMEA after your traineeship?
What motivated me the most were two things, equally important for me: my professional aspirations to develop a long-term career within the European institutions, and the amazing colleagues in the team. In fact, working in an executive agency opens the possibility to obtain an indefinite contract after a few years, and being in a team surrounded by people who make work fun and dynamic is the best place to build my future.
How does EISMEA support colleagues who want to grow professionally or take on new challenges?
If you are looking for a new “work adventure” on top of your day-to-day job, this is the right place to be. EISMEA supports career development at both team and agency level through targeted initiatives and programmes designed to help staff grow professionally and build new skills in different settings. Here are some examples:
- internal mobility opportunities and temporary assignments within EISMEA;
- external mobility opportunities such as the Inter-Agency and the Interinstitutional job shadowing programmes;
- EISMEA’s own Staff development programme and the Inter-Executive Agency Talent Programme;
- a broad range of trainings on different topics.
What three words would you use to describe EISMEA as a workplace?
Dynamic, empowering, collaborative – but nailing it down to three words is very difficult: EISMEA is much more than that!
Are you involved in any of EISMEA’s staff-led initiatives? If so, could you tell us about your experience?
Absolutely! I am an extremely active and sportive person, and being part of EISMEA allows me to express this passion in the workplace as well. The Agency offers various staff-led initiatives, which are a true added value to build strong relationships and to get to know colleagues outside of the usual office walls. I am a proud member of the Running Club and the Football Team. Speaking of which, our team just won (for the second year in a row) the Inter-Agency Football Tournament!
What was it like moving to Brussels and settling in?
Personally, I can only say good things. Brussels is an extremely young, diverse, and dynamic city with many likeminded individuals. This made it very easy for me to meet people and cultivate my hobbies. What two years ago was a jump into the unknown, I can now call home.