For those of you working in tech and wondering about the future of your career, Oana Marin’s story, Lead IT Consultant at .msg Romania, might be the answer you are looking for. Spoiler alert: everything is possible if you know what you want.
In 2012, when Oana said "YES" to the .msg Romania job offer, she was already a Bachelor's graduate at FSEGA Faculty, the German line of study, and she was getting ready to take her Master's degree at UTCN, Faculty of Computer Science, the English line of study. She started her career in the company with some courses that helped her discover SAP technologies, leading her to her first project in ABAP, where she gained much experience. During this time, Data Warehouse was a topic she occasionally investigated.
"I enjoyed my journey inside the company from the first moment because we had the freedom to choose our career path and were not forced to be "stuck" in a project. If you felt like exploring other technologies or had another idea, the management team always supported you and sought a solution. All you had to do was to prove yourself and to be independent. This is still true today", says Oana Marin.
With time, Java became Oana's newest crush, and after a while, she started working on one of the company's most important projects: Allianz.
Gap year or blockchain?
Fast-forward three years, and a new opportunity came up. This time, it was more radical. Oana decided to quit the corporation and pursue an academic career.
She had already started her PhD, and the project she could develop offered her the chance to learn more about blockchain technologies.
"I felt like I needed a break after ten intense years. Some would take a gap year instead. I preferred to try something else as the academic environment felt like another career path, and it was the perfect shot to see if it was the right fit for me." – Oana remembers. "My colleagues insisted on staying in the company. It was a hard farewell, but if I changed my mind, the door remained open."
For a year and a half, Oana worked in blockchain development for sustainable energies, a European project where the work was individual and theoretical. She learned new insights about technologies and how important it is for her to work in a team and see her work's results. Ultimately, she decided to return to .msg Romania, trying, of course, a new technology.
New technology in the portfolio
Since the spring of 2024, Oana has been developing, alongside a dedicated team, an AI Assistant for ROKR, a management tool used in the .msg group. It's her first project in TypeScript and her newest technology to be added to the CV. Something tells us that she won't stop here. For Oana, there are no "What if?" questions.
"If something professionally attracts me, I need to try, and this is my advice for all my colleagues. It's way easier to answer questions than to deal with regrets, even if, in the end, there is a chance to find out that it was not what you were looking for. It's important to find the right environment where you have the space to reinvent yourself and do your best. Lucky me, I found it here, at .msg Romania!" - one piece of advice to carry with us. Thank you, Oana!