Citește varianta în română aici

Never say never

At the end of last year, I said to myself that maybe it was time to open my heart and let someone in, after so long. I didn’t imagine that „that someone” could mean over 200 people. Because this is the number of people at CGM Sofware Romania, the company that decided to hire me starting May the 1st.

I have been doing Communication and PR for 20 years, and 17 of them I was a freelancer in this domain. And I could have sworn that I will never get hired again. When I came to the first discussion with CGM Sofware Romania, I told them that I will not get hired and I will not come every day at the office, because I have other clients too. Seven months later, while I came each day to the amazing office that they offered me, I also accepted their generous offer. So it is clear that this saying is for real – „Never say never”. Should I say that at some point in my life I said to myself that I will never have clients in the IT area?

And this is how we got to the CGM domain, so you can understand what these people are doing exactly. Well, CGM or CompuGroup Medical has a history of more than 35 years and has the headquarter in Germany. It was established by Frank Gotthardt, the one who understood back then the need and the importance of health digitalization. Now, CGM exists in 18 countries and offers eHealth solutions in 56 countries all around the world.

In Romania, the headquarter is in Iași, where you can find the sofware development hub and where skilled IT people create software solutions for the international IT market. Basically, the entire public and private health system in Germany, France and other countries like these is created at CGM Sofware Romania. Plus many and many technologies used in all the medicine areas across the world. I am more than glad that after 7 months of collaboration, I am joining them full-time as Communication Professional, or, as we said it, as Head & Heart of Communication.

Why should you be a CGMer?

Until I tell you more about what convinced me to get hired at CGM, let me say what can make you join us, because there are a ton of benefits:

  • The people. I said it and I will say it again, but people are the one who make the difference. And this bunch of people I simply love;
  • The terrace on the last floor, with sunbeds and lights, where I escape every time I need a breath of fresh air;
  • The kitchen with everything in it (coffee, water, tea, drinks, fruits and everyting you can find in all those cabinets and fridges);
  • The relaxation room, with bing bags, video games, foosball, airball, ping pong, board games;
  • The flexible working hours;
  • Courses and trainings, plus delegations to wherever you need to go;
  • Courses that you want to take, both in your domain or in the connected areas, that you don’t have to pay in case you leave the company at some point;
  • Free gym subscription;
  • Free Bookster subscription, so you can have access to all the amazing books and resources on the platform;
  • The Up Platform, with all kind of benefits and sales for CGMers;
  • The view from the 4th floor when you drink your coffee or you have a smoke break;
  • The parties (I will tell you more about them);
  • The events and the activities for the CGMers, from quizzes and championships, to presentations from guests in different areas (and this is where I step in, of course);
  • Meal tickets;
  • Really good salaries;
  • Health insurance for CGMers and their families;
  • Gifts for each year in the company;
  • Gifts for special occasions (e.g.: Christmas, Women Day, Children Day);
  • Loyalty free days;
  • Bonuses when someone gets married or has a new baby;
  • Bonuses for the CGMers that recommends new people that are actually hired;
  • Sharing experience and feedback, both on inside and personal projects;
  • The fact that people working at CGM can contribute and can create products that are helping medicine and humankind.

I strongly believe that there are even more, but I am sure that those of you who are really interested in joining in will discover them extremely easily. The opening positions are mainly in the IT area, on mid and senior level (FrontEnd, BackEnd, iOS, PHP, Architecture, Agile, QA, Testing, UI/UX, Product Owner), but we also have some really nice paid mentorship programs for all those people at the beginning of their career, who want to learn and grow.

About all of them you can find more on our social media accounts, which you can now follow (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and one more thing, but everything at its own time). You can also make us a scheduled visit at the office, at Chimiei Boulevard 2 bis, next to Zimbru Hotel.

I am not saying to check the website yet, because, obviously, I began to change it and it will last a little while I put all the puzzle pieces in their places. There is also a lot of work at the internal communication level, because my strategy is focused on the people inside the company. And the rest will follow, because I have a long to-do list and a very long list with ideas, from social media and media coverage to all kinds of events and campaigns.

Until then, we have to organize the big party for 6 years of CGM, a party that will happen in July and a party that I barely can`t wait for. What is team work without at least one good party, right?

But still – how come I got hired?

Ok, ok, I told you a lot about CGM (d`oh, and I will tell you even more about it from now on), but I didn’t get the chance to tell you how I got hired. How come I refused all the clients that have tried to hire me in all these years and I accepted only the proposal made by CGM? Short story: the financial offer alone is not enough to make a person join you in your adventure. What made me join CGM was the perfect mix between the people that I love, the moment that I really felt that I need a change in my life, the fact that I do what I love for a company that does eHealth, a domain that I appreciate so much, and, of course, the financial offer that I was saying that it is not enough it it comes alone without the things that I mentioned above.

I like that I have the things I need to do it, and the right people to do it with. I like that there is growing potential and I can do a ton of cool things. I like that the vibe is in my style: chilling, laughing, feeling good, and when it comes to things that need to be done here and now, everyone is mobilizing and is making things happen, good and on time. Oh, have I told you that I love the people at CGM?

The idea is that after all this time doing things on my own, like a horsewoman who shouts that she can do it herself without any help, you realize that actually you need something else. You need to do things differently, and, most of all, that you need the right people in your life. And, somehow, all the good things come at the right time. And I am extremely grateful to them not only for inviting me to join the team, but also for letting me continue, in my own time and rhythm, my other personal and professional projects that I am involved in.

Someone dear to me told me recently that maybe it is time to break that hard shell with which I surrounded myself for some time and to say „Yes” to all the things that used to be in the „Hell, no” area. And someone even dearer told me that I should let things flow, because they come naturally, and he reminded me of an old saying that I used to say all the time and that I somehow forgot it: „Things are not always how you expect them to be. Sometimes, they are even better”.

Citește varianta în română aici

Photo credit: Dragoș Savu