Ioana Mangalea was jumping up and down, excited to hear what one of her mentors, Claudia Istrate, has to say about her own mindit.io journey. As a result, we caught Claudia in a corner and interrogated her until we got some answers.

And here's the report.

1. What's something that happened to you that can only happen here? What's a unique part about working here?  

The chances and opportunities for personal and professional growth by far! mindit.io has this gift where they look through your skills, and it's like they have a matchmaking bot that maps you for a position or project.  

It's unique to have these opportunities in front of you and for people to be that open to improving your professional experience.  

2. How have you grown professionally while on our team?  

When I joined mindit.io, I did it as a QA, already had 6 years of experience sprinkled with coordination, technical bits, leadership, software, gaming, Agile... and writing/documenting things was not really my favorite thing.  

I believe I've spent 1 year and a half as a QA engineer on different projects, had a lot of diversity, and enhanced my presentation skills, as I used to help with trainings.

Afterward, an opportunity came to start a project with the integration team. Initially, my part would have covered the tests and scenarios for integration. Still, in the end, it covered the coordination part, not only scenarios but overseeing the integration process and troubleshooting for circa 2 years. I loved that experience; I got to travel to see the client and know the business from a different perspective.  

In the meantime, many different projects arrived in mindit.io, one on which we needed a QA, so I've jumped in and helped.  

After a few months, we realized that we needed help on the BA side… to be honest, I had never envisioned myself doing this. I disliked doing documentation, but I did enjoy having ideas and solutions for the application, so it really grew on me.  

A few months ago, another opportunity appeared for Product Owner – which was my goal for the past year.  

So… here I am today, a Business Analyst combined with a PO. I feel like I've been doing this since... forever. I love writing everything now because I have another angle to it, and I love what I do.  

3. What was the moment you knew you'd made the right decision to work here?  

I joined mindit.io in July 2016 as a challenge because I already had a partnership that I liked and did not want to lose, but it had its downsides.  

So, I felt I needed to do something more… but I was not sure how this would be further on, so I decided to continue with both!  

A few months after joining, in December 2016, it began to be overwhelming… and I had to choose one…  

The decision was super simple. Here I was challenged, surrounded by people from whom I could steal knowledge, and I felt like I had opportunities to grow – so the right decision was to stay with mindit.io and continue this journey.  

4. What was your best day at work? What are you most proud of?  

I'm proud of everything I've done and achieved – even mistakes, as we always learn from them.  

The best day at work… was in the integration project days, when I received an email from Irina (mindit.io's Founder and former CEO) called "Claudia - the most praised person from mindit.io this week" and everyone who was coming back from a business trip with that partner, was coming back with great words about the work that we did in that project.  

Hence, a few months later… we received a team trip to Cyprus as a token of appreciation!  

5. What is your team like?  

Amazing! The best team in mindit.io! Hahaha  

They are great professionals and friendly, and the best thing we have in our team: is communication.  

We love sharing knowledge and teaching others. We can see that by the number of interns who joined us in the past years who are now helping other projects with a great base defined with our team.  

6. Which benefits are your favorite and why?  

Follow me on Instagram, and you'll see! Flexi anniversary with travel budget for sure.  

Disconnecting from your day 2-day activities I feel that it is super essential for a healthy life, and Flexi anniversary helps in that way… either offering extra free days or travel budget – your choice; but can be used to relax and clear your mind traveling the world, which is a passion of mine.    

7. What would you do if you were CEO for a day?    

This one is hard... I think I would dive deeper into the projects and try to understand how a project is managed from a CEO position.  

And probably take a look at people as well, analyze the performance of people. Since I am here, I would give the high performers a little gift and good words as a little reward for their hard work.    

8. What advice would you give to anyone thinking about joining mindit.io?  

Join us with an open mind, embrace the change and consider that only you can change the course of your professional life with your actions, but count on that. We are here to support it and provide guidance.    

Apply today for one of our +20 OPEN ROLES, or email us here. I'm pretty sure there's a place for you at mindit.io, as long as you are willing to learn new things and start your own professional growth journey.  

9. What movie, book, or TV show would you recommend? How do you relax and unwind?  

I have some really good series that are a must, like Westworld, Better call Saul, Dark, and more, but I call those "serious series." You don't actually relax while you watch those cause you need to be focused on understanding and catching the hidden story…  

But the ones I call "brain dead" shows are usually things like "Glow up" or anything related to makeup or travel. I spend a lot of time watching travel vlogs, as I love to find new places, learn about cultures and see beautiful architecture and nature.      

10. Who would you tag next to be interviewed by us?  

Hard to choose, but not really… I've always looked up to Eddy, so I would love to read his chat.  

So… Eduard Moroianu, you’re next!