Ana Serafim and Daniela Araújo - The Wizards of Critical TechWorks

TALENT WIZARD

THE WIZARDS OF CRITICAL TECHWORKS A QUEST TO FIND THE BEST TALENT

“Technical skills are important, but they’re not key. The determining factors are, without a doubt, soft skills.”

Ana Serafim and Daniela Araújo

TALENT WIZARDS If everyone thought Agile Gandalf was the only one doing magic around CTW, it’s probably because they’ve never met our Talent Wizards, Ana Serafim and Daniela Araújo. This dynamic duo is responsible for casting spells on most of the newcomers who join Critical TechWorks every month.

They’re part of the Purpose Team, a unit led by the Chief Purpose Officer, who makes sure that Critical TechWorks has an all-star squad made up of the best professionals in the field. Ana, who’s been part of the team since its foundation, and Daniela, who’s almost celebrating her first anniversary at Critical TechWorks, are constantly engaging with professionals who, at first glance, seem to suit the Critical TechWorks working environment.

After the initial approach, an interview is scheduled to assess the technical and, most importantly, the soft skills of the candidate.

“Technical skills are important, but they’re not key. The determining factors are, without a doubt, soft skills. If they’re not willing to work as a team and cooperate with other members, they’re not suitable to work at Critical TechWorks.”

There’s nothing wrong with people who prefer to work by themselves, but no one can play a single-player game in a multiplayer environment.

What’s more, given that the newcomers will be working towards solutions that will define the mobility of the future, they will have to constantly improve their skills in different programming languages and adjust to new working methods.

“The ability to learn fast and bolster new mechanisms is crucial when you’re working in a fast-paced environment like Critical TechWorks.”

Ana and Daniela’s spells also lend a valuable helping hand when it comes to finding the right place for each person. “You can get a sense of the best fit for each person simply based on first interactions”. Although highly accurate, the incantation doesn’t always work, and adjustments have to be made.

Even though the new pandemic has slowed down the economy, the Critical TechWorks Talent Wizards are getting a lot more work these days, having interviewed over 140 people in March. Covid-19 brought them a new challenge: interviewing new candidates via video call.

“Physical contact is crucial when interviewing someone.

You get a ‘sense’ of the person and can more easily engage with the candidate.

It’s harder to create empathy through a screen and nearly impossible to read the nonverbal communication of someone that you’ve never actually met.”

When talking about Critical TechWorks, Daniela says that “there’s no comparison with my previous work experiences.”

On the other hand, Ana says that the absence of micromanagement is one of the best features she’s found in the organisation. But they both say that the flexibility they have and the opportunity to manage their own responsibilities are like gold dust.

The Critical TechWorks Talent Wizards will continue to look for talented new members to join the teams.