The Haladjian group puts women in the spotlight!
Today is International Women’s Day! The Haladjian Group highlights a few women working within the company. Discover below the interview of Beatriz T., the Procurement Manager of the Haladjian Mining department.
Beatriz, could you please describe your study background and career experience in a few words?
“After graduating from high school, I entered the Faculty of Law in Madrid (Spain). I studied three years and then I decided to put my university studies on hold to live with my family in Jakarta (Indonesia) for three years. When I returned, I resumed my studies for two years and obtained my Law degree. When I arrived in France, I went to the University of Avignon to learn French. As my Law degree gave me the right to open a Real Estate Agency in France, I decided to follow a real estate negotiator training at the CCIA (Avignon Chamber of Commerce and Industry). But I left for Paris to follow my husband, so I abandoned this project. I lived in Paris for 5 years where I got my first job in a Purchase Department as a Buyer in a company specialized in industrial lightning. Then, I left this job to go to Renault in Clamart. After 5 years in Paris, we decided to come back to the South of France, where I started working for Haladjian in March 2006, on an information system migration project. Today, I have been working within the company for 16 years, first as a Key user and then as a Procurement Manager.”
What position are you in today? Can you describe it to us briefly? What do you like about your job?
I am responsible for the parts flow of one of the main Haladjian suppliers. The biggest difficulty of my job is to have the parts arriving at the right time trying not to overload the stock. I have a double hat, because I also manage the supply flow to feed our subsidiaries in Africa, Senegal, Burkina Faso and soon the Ivory Coast. What I like in my job is the challenge to obtain a balance between the goods flow to guarantee the best customer service rate and, at the same time, to keep a moderate stock level to avoid a strong financial immobilization.”
How do you feel about working in a male environment? Did you have to impose yourself or did you find your place naturally?
“Unfortunately, we are not at all on an equal footing with our male colleagues. This is more pronounced in the south, where being a woman and a foreigner did not make my job any easier. I was able to impose myself through the rigor and seriousness of my work by demonstrating factually that the company could trust me.”
How do you manage your role as a mother and your professional career on a day-to-day basis?
“The most complicated time to manage my family and professional life was the 5 years I spent in Paris, where I had my two young children, and we were very far from our families. But between my husband, other moms and day care we got through it.”
What advice would you give to young women who are about to enter the professional world?
“This quote sums up very well what I would like to advise young women: “The accomplished human being is the one who has the strength and the courage to change what he can change, the serenity to accept what he cannot change, the wisdom to make the difference between the two””
A big thank you to Beatriz for this interview, for the time she took answering these few questions and for her kind words to young ladies!
Find the testimony of the women of the Haladjian Group: Haladjian Industrials Solutions, Haladjian Minerals Solutions, Haladjian Construction France, Haladjian Group.
