Ness Connection: Andreea Badragan

By kristapsasnins, 13 April 2022

Meet Andreea Badragan, Director – Talent Acquisition (Europe) at Ness Digital Engineering. She joined Ness back in August 2013 as an HR Specialist, and in the past nine years has grown to head the talent acquisition department for Europe region. In this e-chat, Andreea tells us more about her journey with Ness, how she takes her coffee, and what motivates her to keep going.

Q: Tell us a bit about your role here at Ness. What do you do?

Since last summer, I have taken a new role of managing the Talent Acquisition team across Europe. I have a hardworking team of 26 people that we want to grow even further. My primary responsibility is to have motivated and productive team members who can hire the right people for Ness.

Q: How did you get started in the industry?

This goes back to 2010 when I started working as an HR assistant – having phone screenings with people who applied for open positions. It was an incredible thing that happened to me – to have the opportunity to take that first part-time job. This first job in the industry helped me have the “taste” of the domain and become convinced that this is what I want to do further! And now, more than a decade later, I still believe so.

Q: What is the best career advice you have ever had?

Hmm… Two things come to mind – 1. “Who does not work, does not make mistakes”. This pushed me always to exit my comfort zone and try new approaches, never being too afraid to make mistakes. And the second one – to listen to others when they say, “You can do this!”. The people who know me don’t say it for anything or as a simple encouragement; there’s usually something more there.

Q: What’s on your to-do list – personal as well as professional?

Well, this can turn around into a very long answer. Professionally speaking, I still have a lot of work to do in my current role – there are processes to align and improve, personalities to understand better, and great results to achieve consistently. After I am completely satisfied with my results, I will have to decide what to do with the HR part of the story – to blend it again with Talent Acquisition or to remain dedicated to the recruitment domain. We will wait and see, I guess.

On the personal front, I want time. To rest, read, travel, cook, paint, plant flowers. Time to meet friends and family more often!

Q: What’s the one word you would use to describe Ness and why?

Speed – this is the word that crosses my mind. We need it to stay in line with how the world evolves and how we want to be top players in it.

Q: What do you enjoy most about working here at Ness?

I have always enjoyed the freedom I got here to try new things and the trust I received from everyone in all these years; this year, I will celebrate nine years with Ness! Having space and not working in a defined “box” was crucial for my professional development. I had so much room to grow – I started back in 2013 as a Recruiter, being afterward promoted to Recruitment Lead and then Recruitment Manager. Later, in 2019 I took the HR manager role for the Iasi location and now the Director role for Talent Acquisition for all European centers.