Hello Girls!! I hope you’re feeling great while reading this article, because I am.

My name is Alexandra Iepure, I’m from Romania and I’ve been the Technical Customer Service Manager at SCHLUMBERGER in France for nearly a year.

My role is to coordinate a multidisciplinary and international team, composed of software development engineers, quality engineers, and business experts, with the aim of offering the best service to our clients worldwide in the energy industry. You’re probably wondering: what are all these jobs? Well, a software development engineer creates applications or software used in a company. Quality engineers verify that these applications and software conform to what is required by the company that will need them, and my missions are to:

1. Manage, with my team, the handling of customer requests (assistance, incidents)

2. Ensure the quality of services and customer satisfaction

3. Motivate the troops, create an environment of trust and professional fulfillment

Well, well, well, let’s go back to my background for a moment!! After a Scientific Baccalaureate, I graduated from the Polytechnic School of Bucharest (Romania), specializing in Computer Engineering and Networks.

I obtained my Master’s degree in France, at the University of La Rochelle, specializing in Mathematical Engineering and Image.

Since childhood, I’ve been attracted to science and the logic of things. I grew up surrounded by numbers and mathematical calculations, thanks to my mom, who is an accountant by profession. This family environment certainly had an influence on me, hence my desire to pursue a career in the scientific field.

The most difficult part of my journey has been constantly proving that a woman can have a technical leadership role in a predominantly male environment, such as energy and computer science. To reduce the deeply ingrained judgments in people’s minds (both men and women), one must arm oneself with a spirit of listening, empathy, and know how to master the management of one’s own emotions and those of colleagues.

I am deeply convinced that social intelligence, the ability to build strong and lasting relationships in the professional environment, is more important than technical skills, which quickly become obsolete in our world of constantly evolving new technologies.

Thanks to this solid social intelligence, I manage to focus on the essential – the human aspect, which represents a crucial asset in managing technical teams and leadership.

Otherwise, it’s not just about work 😉… I always give a very high priority to activities outside of work, as they allow me to feel good in my skin and be more productive in the professional environment. I love pencil drawing, doing sports, traveling, and regularly going out with friends for drinks. Here are some photos of my drawings, travels, and outings with friends:

I think that even today, scientific careers scare women. It’s the fear of not succeeding or the fear of not being up to the task. But this needs to change, because the scientific field is not more difficult than a literary or artistic field. It’s just different.

Oops, I stumbled…

It’s funny, because I remember telling myself as a teenager that you need a special brain, a bit twisted, to do computer science. I was convinced that it would never be for me. And yet, I’m currently a computer engineer…

So, my advice for young girls is to follow their passion and listen to their intuition, regardless of whether it’s science or another field. And if you like science, go for it! You have all the qualities for it.

Well, I’ll leave you with this beautiful phrase that helps me not to get discouraged:

Written by Eunice MBANDOU