Nevena on her first day at Nutanix
As a part of our Life at Nutanix series, we profile some of our talented employees to help you get a sense for our unique team and culture. This blog post features Nevena Nešovanović from our growing team in Serbia. We talked with her about her experience transitioning to a different team within Nutanix, and how she’s watched our team expand and evolve in Serbia, and across the larger Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.
You joined Nutanix as a Recruiter. Today you work in Human Resources. What led to your transition to a different part of the business?
In 2018 I joined Nutanix as a Technical Recruiter. It was exciting to get to know our products and to handle our technical recruiting for Serbia, Berlin, and Cambridge.
When the pandemic started, recruitment slowed and a colleague in the Netherlands went out on maternity leave. I had an opportunity to temporarily dedicate a portion of my time to working with our People Development and Culture team. I got certified as a DiSC® trainer and managed our Lingo Live program for employees that want to improve their English business skills.
After 5 years in recruiting, I was exploring growth opportunities. I embraced our Nutanix principle “get comfortable being uncomfortable.” I gained exposure working directly with senior management, I delivered training for employees, and created a learning path for our EMEA Customer Success team. I learned so much and had a ton of ownership. It was a great experience.
An opportunity to move into HR presented itself when someone was promoted internally. I decided to try something new and discussed it with my manager. I transitioned to HR Operations in 2020 and have had the opportunity to set things in place and manage my work with a lot of autonomy. I am process-oriented and enjoy building from scratch.
The Global Nutanix People Team at a team event in 2019
Tell us about your role as an HR Operations Representative.
I have a wide scope in my role. Sometimes it can be overwhelming, but for the most part it keeps me interested because I am always learning.
My team provides HR support for our employees and managers. We manage onboarding and offboarding employees, partnering with immigration for global mobility for our region, supporting employee relations, and hosting training sessions in collaboration with our People Development and Culture team. We assist with parental leave, our merit cycle, internal transfers and promotions, and our partnerships with local benefits brokers. Beyond this, we continually work to improve our processes and communications.
The region I am responsible for includes Serbia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Estonia, Poland, Norway, and Luxembourg.
Any advice for others considering a career transition?
Don’t be afraid to try new things and take a risk. What’s the worst that can happen? Use the tools and people available to you to explore options. There are often options you don’t see. In a new role, be consistent, be curious, and strive to become more proficient.
I am grateful for the unique opportunity I had to work on different teams. It is not a typical journey, but each opportunity helped me understand what each team does, what my skills are, and where I can contribute. I learned I am capable of doing a lot of different things and that I like mastering new information and challenges.
Has your recruiting experience helped you in your current role?
Recruitment is a very hard job. It helped me build strong communication and negotiation skills that I use today.
Some of the women of Nutanix Serbia
How has the Nutanix team in Serbia evolved since you joined?
I was the 19th person hired in Belgrade. Today we have two offices (in Belgrade and Niš) and over 100 people in Serbia. Seeing the growth in Serbia and across EMEA has been exciting and challenging.
I joined soon after Nutanix acquired Frame. The Serbian team was small and had a startup mentality within the larger Nutanix company. The culture shifted as we added more people in Serbia from our Data Path, Professional Services, Customer Success and IT Support teams. It’s natural for the culture to shift as we grow and hire more diverse teams.
It's a unique experience for me to have hired people who I now work with as an HR Operations Representative. It’s special for me to be able to work with them through their full employee experience. I couldn't see myself anywhere else. I'm very thankful for the opportunity.
Some of the Belgrade, Serbia team at a holiday gathering in 2020
What’s one thing you wish more people knew about our team in Serbia?
We have amazing people who are putting Serbia on the map. Our Engineering team is contributing to our product infrastructure and brought a whole new product. We have great colleges, great employees and teams that support each other. There is a lot of potential for hiring talented bilingual people in Serbia.
Nevena enjoying a walk in the forest
What do you enjoy outside of work?
I am an animal lover. You can always find me feeding the stray cats on my street. I try to give back to my community through local clean up and green initiatives. After work I unwind with lengthy walks in a beautiful forest near my house.
Thanks to Nevena for sharing her experience. Visit our Careers page to learn more about our team, culture and current career opportunities.
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