Meister

<p><i><strong>Sandra Merkel wanted to find her own path. Analytics proved to be virgin territory and an ideal playground. 50inTech meets with Meister’s Director of Analytics in Vienna.</strong></i></p><h2><br>Sandra Merkel: Turning Analytics From an Afterthought Into a Pillar of the Data Field</h2><p>Sandra Merkel grew up in Leipzig, home to some of the world’s most famous musicians. But music wasn’t her path. Indeed, she wasn’t one of those young people who know right away what their journey will be. She was just a young soul that had to learn it all and explore just about everything. However, she perceived what she didn’t want to become: not an engineer, like her father, or follow in her mother’s footsteps. Then what? When your parents can’t be your job role models, you still need to find something that at least appeals to you enough.&nbsp;</p><p>She therefore studied international business in Dresden. She was quickly hired in Berlin, in the performance marketing sector. Search engine optimization and advertising were picking up speed and over the next few years, she developed her skills in SEO and SEA. However, she found her true passion when she moved into data and analytics. At that time, the field of analytics was slowly gaining momentum and was on its way to becoming a huge part of the tech world.</p><h2>From Berlin to Meister’s Vienna</h2><p>When I joined Meister, I was ready. I had enough of the Berliner scene – anyone who lived in Berlin for a good while will know what I mean … – . I had always loved Vienna and wanted to go back there.&nbsp;</p><h3>Entering a Place of Colourful Design, and Peaceful Simplicity&nbsp;</h3><p>&nbsp;You may have the intuition that you’ll fit in a place, but the only way to find out is to live your daily life there. Meister immediately felt right. Everything in the headquarters appealed to me: it was beautiful and light, full of happy colours. Neat and refined, too, organized. Maybe it’s a German thing, loving order: I need it to function at my best! People seemed friendly, earnest. It’s now been four years, and this first impression is confirmed daily.&nbsp;</p><h3>Work, Life, Balance</h3><p>I hate working remotely. I’m an office person, I need this separation between my professional life and my ‘civil time’. I hardly ever bring my laptop home. Home is home, it’s my happy place outside of the job. But my office is my happy place too. It’s beautiful. Of course, I could recreate a nice office at my house, but something would be missing, and I’m not just talking about square metres of living space! That’s just me, though: of my team of five, I’m the only one on site.&nbsp;One lives in Munich, another in Belgium, and the other two only come to the office&nbsp;occasionally.&nbsp;</p><p>This flexibility, being able to pick your routine is one of the perks of our fields. Of course, the infamous pandemic has accelerated a profound shift in work culture everywhere. We decide where, how and when we work, in a way that fits our lifestyles. Personally, I need the vibe of the office, to feel the energy of my colleagues, even when we each work in our separate rooms. It’s difficult to describe, I need the food of the mind that is the workplace.&nbsp;</p><h2>Analytics: From an Afterthought to a Pillar of the Data Field</h2><p>Building a career in analytics when analytics barely existed proved to be both a pitfall and a blessing.&nbsp;</p><h3>Keep on Keeping on</h3><p>In the early years of my professional journey, I worked free as a bird: no one knocked on my door, waiting for crucial data. I was on my own, doing my things in my chosen time. Did it feel lonely occasionally? Maybe a little bit. I had no mentor, no fatherly figure to learn from. And as humans, we need teamwork, the challenge of confronting minds and ideas. That’s why I love my job at Meister and my team, this togetherness. But thanks to these beginnings ‘in the shadows’, I was able to pioneer my field, and yes, I take pride in what I achieved by myself.</p><p>We’ve become a pivot in the company and that makes me extremely proud. In the course of a few years, my team and I introduced KPI glossary company-wide, and aligned the business with day-to-day KPIs for use. Analytics is no longer an afterthought, but an essential part of operations.</p><p>Data and analytics are fast paced environments because the need for data is huge! Prioritizing tasks isn’t an option: if you fall behind, catching up will be extremely difficult. If you want to keep up, you must be organized. Like, in my job, I need to:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Constantly work on projects with my team, trying to get the most out of our work Mentor my team members</li><li>align the company on the KPIS and track those</li><li>Conduct analyst work by performing deep dives with all departments</li><li>educate the company on data</li></ul><p>Sometimes, everything is a priority!&nbsp;</p><h3>Taking on Leadership</h3><p>I didn’t always know I had it in me. Going from independent contributor to Director of Analytics is a real switch. Leading people certainly requires a special skill set. We must listen and hear, say, gently, sometimes hard truths. You’re the glue that holds your team together, and this has become even truer with this new virtual work ground, and teams scattered all over the world! we must, absolutely, be empathetic. You can be very good at your job, be a major asset to your company and yet, not be leading material.&nbsp;</p><p>We all know people in leadership positions who lack a great deal in regard to these skills. Sometimes I’m amazed at how some people can rise to the very top of managerial positions when they’re just not that good. And guess what, most of the time, it’s men. Indeed, the top of the pyramid is very male and very white. Much remains to be done to change things.&nbsp;</p><h2>Making Your Way as a Woman in Tech</h2><p>Being a woman in tech fields isn’t a problem. Education is!</p><h3>Stop Underestimating Yourselves</h3><p>Ask a young man at the start of his career to self-evaluate a particular skill on a scale of 1 to 10: he’ll gladly give himself an 8. An 8, when he still has to implement his theoretical knowledge and to confront it to the realities of his tasks! Many times, I wouldn’t rate myself an 8! Now, ask the same question to a woman. She’s going to say to herself: ‘uh, if an 8 is really good, I can’t be more than a 5, how could I be?’</p><p>So, to a young woman starting out in this field, I’d say: ‘do oversell yourself’! Not majorly, not under false pretences, of course, but I’ve had so many occasions to witness self-deprecation in women. If you’re an 8, recognize it and work your way up to the 10 you can be, without shame or self-limitation.</p><p>Unfortunately, I think these behaviours and mindsets are internalized at a very young age, from birth, even. Unlearning patterns, it’s so difficult. We raise little girls to serve and to obey when we teach boys to behave like rulers of the world. It’s a societal burden.</p><h3>Learn to Learn, Love to Learn&nbsp;</h3><p>Yet, whether you’re a woman or a man, success lies in wisdom. Don’t try to rush things. Because Tech is such a fast-paced world, people, especially young people, tend to want to go through the steps as fast as humanly possible. Not only is it reckless, but it’s also off the mark. We should take the time to learn and mature, and enjoy the process. For me, that’s the key to happiness, whatever career you choose, but perhaps even more so in our field.</p><h3>Five Years From Now</h3><p>It’s been four years and I’m still very happy at Meister’s headquarters, I still call Vienna my home. I can see myself here for years to come. Whether as an independent contributor or higher up in management. Maybe as VP, who knows? Over the past years, I have proven to myself that I have the skills required, and I learned a great deal about leadership. But, maybe I’ll be back in Germany, or I’ll work abroad and no longer be part of the Tech world. <strong>The future is open and bright. Let’s not rush things…</strong></p>

A Bright and Colourful Life: Sandra Merkel at Meisterlabs

Julien Londeix