Just two months ago, Priyatharesini Muthu was providing top-level tech support to our APAC region in Singapore. Today, she’s a Business Analyst for the Cloud Communications division of NTT (formerly known as Arkadin) and is living in Paris. Her career has taken her from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore to France, teaching her five languages along the way (Cantonese, Mandarin, English, Malay, and Tamil) – with a sixth, French, obviously in her near future.
We talked to Priyatharesini about her positions within our company in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and how they shaped her high-tech, multicultural, multilingual career path.
Q. You moved from Singapore to Paris two months ago to become a Business Analyst. That’s quite a change! How did it come about?
I’ve always believed that the most exciting way to
pursue my career path is by exploring a new position in a new country. I did the
same thing when I moved from Malaysia, where I worked for almost six years as
an Order Management Specialist, to Singapore, where I worked for almost three
years, first in Revenue Assurance before being promoted to Regional Information
System Specialist.
That’s
when I started thinking about my next move, and a wonderful opportunity arose… And
here I am in Paris with a new role, a new country, and another new language. It’s
a big step, but I love taking up new challenges and enhancing my experiences.
Q. In what ways is your position as business analyst different from your previous position as Regional IS Specialist?
My current role is more geared towards global accountability, whereas previously I was managing support exclusively for our APAC region. I’m still in the Information System world, but now I have worldwide exposure. Managing projects at this level entails a whole new set of responsibilities. But it will also enable me to continue learning and become more competent in my field.
Q. Prior to your post as IS Specialist, you managed billing and customer requests. Are these positions more financial in nature than IS?
I was part of the Technical Order Management team. That’s where we manage all the sales orders and requests to set up accounts for the various products we have internally and externally. This role enabled me to “experience” our products from every point of view, from a frontline perspective all the way through to a backend technical view. I’m very interested in the technical aspects of our products. Therefore, I’ve always been passionate about learning more about our systems.
