Panagiota Poda (1991) studied Mechanical Engineering at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and is currently working as Supplier Quality Engineer at ASML. She met with TMC during a career event at her university and got intrigued by the Employeneurship model of this Dutch company. In this article Panagiota shares her thoughts and vision on working abroad for a big and multicultural company in high tech advancements such as TMC.

“For me it is exciting to see different working environments and cultures and I was lucky to come to the Netherlands. Even though things are different because of Covid-19 my decision to work abroad still feels right. My main reason to move here were the job opportunities at TMC, as it is a big and multicultural company in high tech sector. Also, the working environment and culture of the Netherlands were appealing to me. People are open minded and composed under pressure. In addition, access to information, opportunities to learn new skills, and trust among the teams create an environment where people are more willing to take risks and challenge each other to outperform. In engineering, coming up with better solutions eventually leads to innovation”.

“I moved from Greece to the Netherlands in January 2020 and started working for TMC. My first project was at ASML, as Supplier Quality Engineer. Currently, I still work on the same role and my focus is on quality of new product introduction projects. Despite Covid-19, I am allowed to work at the office and meet my teams from TMC and ASML that were – and are – really supportive during this time. This makes my work more efficient and helps me to stay optimistic even though I don’t like the circumstances.”

For now, Panagiota mainly focuses on where she is today. Her short-term plan is to become a subject-matter expert on the role she is currently in. “It is a challenging job and the learning curve never ends, so that might take a while. I am learning and growing each day and I love it; that’s what I came here for!”

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The fact that TMC has the Employeneurship model really speaks to Panagiota. She likes to enhance her skills and contribute to what matters. “By the time I came to the Netherlands I learned about how several agencies are operating, but they were not the same like TMC. At TMC people are always open to new ideas or solutions. You can easily connect to other people, talk about ideas and latest technological advancements and best practices, get trained and coached. You can even run your own project. And that is amazing!”

The last year, the Supplier Quality Engineer had a great idea of creating a TMC event. “Along with Markella and Steven from the chemical cell, we want to create an event to interact with others, learn about other TMC offices, their culture, and how they apply Employeneurship. I hope it will work out. I also hope our idea is appealing to other people who share the same curiosity and interests as we do!”

Any last piece of advice for anyone who is thinking about working abroad? “Chase your dream and do what you want to do. With that I mean to chase what you personally would like to have, not what other people would like for themselves or for you. And if you dream to work at a big and international company in high tech advancements, I highly recommend TMC!”