Learn to express your requests openly, rather than to remain silent

Introduce yourself in a few words..

My name is Nadia Atanasova, currently I am one of the global leaders in the field of human resources and control at YNV group. The interesting thing about my professional path is that it consists of two clearly distinguishable periods – 16 years in the field of financial reporting as an auditor and financial director and 12 years in the field of human resources.

In recent years, I have also been actively working as a professional coach accredited by the International Coaching Federation. In this field, my goal is to create a supportive environment for my clients on their path to change.

How would you describe your career in a few words?

Diverse, strongly influenced by my desire to build upon the knowledge and skills I have acquired at every subsequent stage of my professional development. The step from the financial field to that of human resources was a conscious one, with the desire to both learn and contribute in my professional environment. Thus, over these more than 25 years, I have often moved in sync with the unveiling of new fields of development for the organizations I have worked for.

What was the most important choice that shaped your path?

When I started actively attending job interviews in 1998, I probably identified around 10-15 large companies, all related to the active use of foreign languages and constant contact with an international environment. After my first professional experience, I realized that for a person like me, the scale, established rules, a wide network of contacts, and a built sequence of steps in every area of the organization are important to achieve economies of scale. Interestingly, many of these valued characteristics of the companies are areas in whose development I have worked and continue to work over the years.

What would you like to have known at the beginning of your career that no one told you?

First of all, I would have liked to be encouraged to share where I see opportunities for improvement in the processes and to take initiative to work specifically in the area of process improvement for efficiency. At the same time, it would have been valuable for me early in my career to have had tests to identify people's strengths, to realize that my ability to create order can be very useful in a professional sense. I would probably have early on directed myself towards roles in the area of control functions, to easily and joyfully invest my qualities in the development of my professional environment.

Thirdly, it would have been nice many years ago to have realized that it is possible for a person to develop in several professional fields simultaneously and that this can lead to benefits for the companies in which I work, as well as to growth for me.

How can a person understand which profession is suitable for them?

By setting a goal to deeply study oneself and by listening to others in order to hear them clearly. This way we understand whether the context before us is a good place for collaboration, instead of fantasizing about an unrealistic future together.

Which skills will be key in the next 10 years, in your opinion?

Flexibility, initiative, and openness to change.

How to build a network of useful contacts without appearing interested?

The network of contacts is an environment in which we constantly communicate - actively or passively. With some people, we meet and talk, work together, attend various events, while others we follow on social networks like LinkedIn for example, because they have made a good impression on us. In my opinion, it is completely normal to openly declare that we are interested in learning more about the activity that we know someone is engaged in or that we want to speak with that person by highlighting our specific goal for development that leads us to this invitation.

Often, from a coffee meeting, fruitful ideas for collaboration can arise or we can set personal goals for training or projects that we can seek and get involved in. This is exactly how I, for example, joined Mentor the Young.

What is the biggest mistake you have made in your career, and what did you learn from it?

In a professional sense, I don't think I have made critical mistakes. I have probably learned something important from every surprise.

Overall, I have learned to express my requests openly, rather than to remain silent in expectation of something happening by itself. Communication helps us move forward faster, whether together or separately, if we find that we can find an effective solution to a challenge or not.

How to recognize a toxic work environment and when is it time to leave?

An environment that is characterized by an unjustified level of micromanagement, rudeness, loud conversations, lack of tolerance for objective human differences, or excessive personal claims, is pointless to tolerate for more than six months, during which time we can align our personal perceptions with what is objectively happening.

There are many valuable people and good employers, with whom we can contribute with our goodwill, dedication, and talent. Let the work environment in which we do not feel at home remain for other people. For every train, there are passengers.

What would you do differently if you could start over?

This is an interesting question. The answer is: “Nothing“. In a professional sense, I know what the price of each of my actions or choices has been and I am satisfied with where my path has led me. This path consists of all these historical steps of mine. And I would do them again.

How to keep our motivation in times of stagnation?

Sticking to a long-term plan and a detailed analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each situation helps us avoid impulsive decisions for change, if we feel that we are moving at a turtle's pace in the current situation.

How to achieve a balance between professional and personal life?

At different stages of life, each of us prioritizes different areas of that same life. When we are aware that at a certain moment, area A or B is of primary importance to us and why, there is no reason to suffer that some other area is taking a backseat in terms of time or energy that we invest in it. So the answer is: “With awareness“.

When is it time to change our career, not just the job?

Let’s assume that changing employers always changes the job. Even if the position has the same title in two different organizations, it is very rare for a person to do the same thing when we talk about positions other than basic operational tasks.

Changing careers is successfully realized when a person has prepared well – has familiarized themselves with the nature of the new field they are interested in permanently transitioning to, has qualified themselves – through formal education, by taking on similar tasks in their current organization, by expressing interest in being involved in projects to gain skills in addition to knowledge, through certifications.

As for the narrow question of timing, my answer is: “When, knowing ourselves, we start to feel that something else has become very interesting to us“. My advice is to go where we want to be, instead of leaving from where we don’t want to be – the focus should be forward towards the future role.

If you had to give just one piece of advice to people seeking success, what would it be?

To be open, to approach people with trust, to choose their environment carefully, to take bold steps for change and development, to believe in their dreams. More than one has become obvious.

What is your definition of a “successful career”?

A successful career is that of a person who remembers their professional path to date with gratitude and looks forward with optimism.