Finding Work: Devotion and work

Devotion and work. Committing to family, work and education at the same time. Taken from the Insights Library on cord.

cord helps Engineers direct message other people looking to hire them. But finding work isn’t just about access to hiring managers…

Finding your best work is a life’s journey uncovered through an ongoing conversation with ourselves and the world around us.

The Best Work Stories podcast hosts conversations between Ben (Co-founder and CEO of cord) and Founders, CTO’s, Software Engineers and people in tech who are on their own journey to find their best work.

Transcript

Lucian Iliescu (00:00):

Besides health, I think family is the second most important thing. Because a job, you can find a new job any day. If you are to leave at your current job, you can always find another job, that’s not problem. But family is unique, you can’t replace family.

Ben Henley-Smith (00:15):

What do you think you sacrifice in order to live a good working life?

Lucian Iliescu (00:21):

Time, first of all. In order to put up a good effort in your work life, you need to spend time, lots of it, in order to get better. Because you aren’t born educated, you aren’t born taught on how to handle different things that you encounter in your work life. You need to spend time in order to improve on your qualities and your abilities. And after you’ve reached a level where you can consider yourself that you’ve learned enough, you need to be consistent. Because in our industry, things change from day to day, new technology appear, some old ones get deprecated. So you need to be up to date with all technologies, at least in your area of work. And sometimes, especially with the pandemic and with the remote work, work life can sometimes cross over your personal life. Since your house is now your office as well. And maybe if you have a family, you sometimes neglect spending time with them because your schedule is messed up because of the remote work. At least in an office, your work life was separated from your personal life.

Ben Henley-Smith (01:46):

Where do you place work in priority order compared to the rest of the aspects of your life?

Lucian Iliescu (01:52):

Well, the most important aspect of life I think is health, both physically and mentally. You need to be sure that you’re in parameters regarding your health, like everything is going well. And especially mentally, since work can sometimes be tiring and exhausting. And you can sometimes work too much, and you reach a mental exhaustion. Besides health, I think family is the second most important thing. Because a job, you can find a new job any day. If you are to leave at your current job, you can always find another job, that’s not problem. But family is unique, you can’t replace family. And then I think that, of course, there’s the job. Work is important, and I understand that and I’m fully committed to work. But at the same time, we need to acknowledge the fact that work isn’t the most important thing in life.

Ben Henley-Smith (02:45):

How do you take that belief and still make sure that you’re performing work at the highest degree?

Lucian Iliescu (02:50):

Well, that’s what working hours are for. During work time, I’m like, “Okay.” This time, I’m working part-time four hours. I’m like, “Okay, these four hours of the day are dedicated to work. No distraction, no things getting me off track. I’m fully committing to work. I’m going to sit there, do my job, and give my 100%.” After those four hours, or two hours and a break of half an hour, or something, and then another two hours. After the four work hours, I’m like, “Okay, the day is done. Now I can focus on my personal life.”

Ben Henley-Smith (03:29):

Mm-hmm (affirmative). How do you take that approach and apply it to the process of finding work? For you, Lucian, you’re simultaneously pursuing a degree and working as a software engineer at your UiPath. So how do you take that philosophy and apply it to the process of finding work itself?

Lucian Iliescu (03:50):

Before I started working and when I was an intern, and before the internship, I didn’t know that much. I mean, I knew the industry that we were in, but I didn’t know that many details. Because in order to know how a company fits you, you need to work at them for a little bit in order to see if your values match theirs. After the three months, I thought about it. And I was like, “Okay, this company fits my mindset. The people are really nice, they’re committed.” If I was ever stuck, they would help me in the second I asked. And that’s really important, I think. The work environment, I think is the key factor when choosing your workplace. Because maybe their compensation is great, maybe the benefits are awesome. But if the work environment is toxic, then you should get out of that place.

Ben Henley-Smith (04:46):

How do you go about making that decision if you can’t work inside a company in the same way that you have, for example, when you’ve interned?

Lucian Iliescu (04:53):

The first thing I do when I’m applying to a company, I’m asking friends or people that are acquaintances, “Hey, what’s your thought about this company? How was your time at there? Did you enjoy it? Did you hate it? What are the pros and cons?” and so on. And after hearing the opinions, I’m like, “Okay, let’s see. Let’s go to the interview and see the feedback.” And after the feedback from the interview and the feedback from my friends, I’m like, “Okay, let’s see. Do I go here or not?” From acquaintances’ perspectives, I choose the companies, if I don’t have the opportunity to intern there.

Lucian Iliescu (05:37):

And if let’s say that I don’t have any friends that work at the company. Let’s say there’s a company X, and none of my acquaintances worked there. Then I use forums like Glassdoor, LinkedIn, or forums that are here in Romania. Where people post their thoughts about how was working at a company. Like when there are [inaudible 00:06:01] pros, “This company pays well, but the atmosphere isn’t that great.” Or vice versa, “The atmosphere is awesome, but the salaries aren’t that great.” And I look at all the opinions, I make an average, and I try to draw conclusions, pros and cons. And by using those conclusions, I decide if I go forward with working with that company or not.

Ben Henley-Smith (06:25):

What’s next for you, Lucian?

Lucian Iliescu (06:27):

Well, momentarily, I plan on finishing my degree while also working in parallel. And after that, I plan on relocating from Romania. I plan on pursuing a master’s degree, but outside of Romania. Because after spending some time, I decided that the educational system doesn’t fit my mindset, it’s not made for me. And for my final two years of education, or one, depending on which master degree I approach, I want to at least do something that fits me and I actually enjoy. And not to just finish like it’s a tedious task. Yeah, I was thinking about Netherlands, because I have some friends and acquaintances there. And they’ve told me they had a great experience there, and they recommended me the place. It was awesome. So that’s what I’m going for. I’ll see if I can relocate with the job as well, because the company has offices all around the world, including Netherlands. So if I could get a transfer, that would be great. And if that’s not possible, then unfortunately I’ll have to switch jobs.

Ben Henley-Smith (07:33):

Many people would be envious of being a software engineer at UiPath. That would be their goal. And for you, it’s almost it’s a part of it, you’re pursuing your master’s next. Why not just stay at UiPath and not pursue your master’s?

Lucian Iliescu (07:55):

The company is great and I really enjoy it, I have no negative things to say about it. But I just want to leave Romania, that’s the problem. The main problem isn’t the company or anything else, it’s just that I’m sick with Romania. And if you’ve ever talked to a Romanian person who’s about my age or on their 20s, you’ll could see that a lot of people are sick with the mindset in Romania, of how things are done in the country. And yeah, [inaudible 00:08:31] that’s the main reason I want to leave the country.

Ben Henley-Smith (08:34):

Does that mean that you’d also consider a job versus education?

Lucian Iliescu (08:38):

Oh yeah, of course.

Ben Henley-Smith (08:39):

Why do you want to pursue both at the same time?

Lucian Iliescu (08:42):

Well, because education is important because it opens up some gates. It doesn’t give you all the skills that you need in order to succeed in the industry, but it gives you a starting point. And some companies look at you in a different way if you have a master’s degree with a bachelor. And maybe I can see what field of technology fits me the best. That’s why I want to pursue a master’s degree. For example, I was thinking about applying to a security master, because I’ve always been interesting in computer security, but I also want to do a job in parallel. The possibilities are endless for fresh graduates, like a lot of companies are eager to hire senior or fresh graduates.

Lucian Iliescu (09:31):

Let’s say I don’t work for two years while I’m pursuing my master. Then I will lose two years of my life, where I could have gained so much experience that will add a lot of value to my resume. While also learning new things, while also getting some income. That’s why I’m trying to do both in parallel, because if I don’t work during the master, I’ll feel like I’ll waste my head start of being a fresh graduate.

Ben Henley-Smith (10:00):

What qualities, to you, make up work?

Lucian Iliescu (10:03):

I’m a very communicative person. And if there is a problem, for example, let’s say I can’t go to a meeting or a thing. I immediately tell them the second I hear the news that I can’t come. I tell them, “Okay, excuse me, guys. I can’t come to the meeting. I’m really sorry, I’ll try to make up for it.” And also I’m a very serious person regarding my work. Like I’m dedicated, and I devote myself 100% for the work. And during work hours, I’m trying my best to finish my tasks, or to do them properly. And not just slack around hoping nobody notices.

Ben Henley-Smith (10:48):

You’ve used the word devotion on a couple of occasions. You have a devotion to your work, a devotion to your family. What does devotion mean to you?

Lucian Iliescu (11:01):

I think devotion is having your mind in the right place at the right time, depending on the context. Like if you are with the family, you focus on spending time with them and not anything else, and vice versa with work. While you’re at work, you don’t think about anything else.

Ben Henley-Smith (11:17):

And I mean, it must be heartbreaking that you, whilst you have a character that devotes itself to such clear ideals, you have to leave your own country to pursue those.

Lucian Iliescu (11:35):

Yes, I thought about that, but my family encourage me. And what I plan is to move to another country, and I plan to bring them with me. Because they helped me, they raised me, and I’m going to return the favor. I’m going to be like, “Hey, don’t worry. I’m coming to get you.” So yeah, I know it’s going to be temporary. And just because I’m leaving country for one or two years, doesn’t mean that I’m going to be staying there. Maybe I won’t like that much in the Netherlands or wherever I go. And maybe I’ll be with the thought that, “Okay, maybe going back home is better.”

Lucian Iliescu (12:13):

Because mindsets change over time. Like today, I have some thoughts about the subject, and maybe in one year, or even less, in six months, I have a total different point of view of the task. Throughout time, you grow, and your perspectives change on the same subjects. So maybe after two years, I’ll be like… Well, now I’m going to be like, “Oh yes, I want to leave this country. I really want to get out.” And after two years, I’m going to be like, “Okay, maybe it’s not a good idea to leave your country.” Because you sacrifice more than what you think you are actually sacrificing. So yeah, I’ll see in time how things turn out.

Ben Henley-Smith (12:57):

It strikes me that your family are also just as devoted to you as you are to pursuing your ideals.

Lucian Iliescu (13:07):

Yes. I can say it’s a family trait, it runs in the family.

Ben Henley-Smith (13:10):

Is there anything that devotion has taught you about work?

Lucian Iliescu (13:17):

Well, it taught me that if you want something and you strive for something, or if you want to achieve a goal. Everything is possible as long as you keep your heart to it, and you are committed and you never give up. For example, of how I found the jobs. I used to apply on LinkedIn to a hundred of companies, and I’d be rejected, rejected, rejected. [inaudible 00:13:44] some companies didn’t even bother sending back emails. They’ll say, “Oh yeah, we’ll come back with an answer in one week or two.” And then they’ll never answer back, yeah.

Lucian Iliescu (13:57):

But you need to stay motivated throughout this whole thing, because at some point things are going to turn out for the best. So I kept a positive mindset while also improving myself. “Okay, I’ve failed this interview at this company. Let’s see, what did I do wrong? What did I do good? What things could have I improved there?” And based on those aspects, I improved myself over time and I got to the point where I’m now. So yeah, I think that devotion taught me that commitment is important, and never giving up so easily is the most important factor when trying to strive for something.

Ben Henley-Smith (14:42):

Lucian, I so admire your devotion. Not just to your work, but to your family and to your future. And I wish you all the very best of luck.

Lucian Iliescu (14:59):

Thank you. Good luck in the future for you, too.