Interview: Viviane Correia on her first few months with bancon

Bringing 17 years of big company experience from SAP and Accenture, as well as the ability to speak four languages, Viviane Correia is one of the newest members of the bancon team. Starting her career as an SAP FI key user and progressing to her current role as a Senior SAP FI Consultant, Viviane has worked on some notable migration projects since joining the team. We sat down with her to find out more.

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Tell us more about your background before joining bancon

I started working with SAP as a trainee in Brazil where I am from. I worked there for ten years as an SAP FI key user on projects with big brands like Pirelli Tyres. Following this I decided to become an SAP consultant so took a sabbatical and did a month at the SAP academy. I wanted to improve my English as I felt this would be a huge asset in my new consultancy role, so moved to Cambridge, England for three months where I studied at the business school. It was the first time I had ever studied in another country and I really enjoyed it. When I returned to Brazil, I got my first consultancy job in Accenture where I stayed for five years before moving to Accenture Portugal.

How have your previous roles at larger consultancies helped you in this role at bancon?

During my time at Accenture, I gained a lot of experience around financial businesses so I know how to speak “finance” and understand financial processes which enables me to talk to clients comprehensively about their requirements. I also have a good understanding of how SAP Migration projects should be mapped out and how to work with the client to ensure expectations are managed and we get the best possible results. At bancon we have a proprietary migration tool for open financial items called bPostingEngine. While the functionality of bPostingEngine is different, I have used other migration tools in the past and so being familiar with these along with the familiarity of the process means that even after only seven months at bancon, I am able to add tremendous value to the team.

What projects have you worked on so far?

My first project at bancon was with Airbus, it was so interesting for me to join and be straight to work on such a big client. My role in this project was to migrate the financial documents from a subsidiary company using bPostingEngine. It was great to be so involved in the project and see it end-to-end. When you are at a large consultancy, you rarely get to see a project from start to finish. You are one of many cogs in a big wheel. However, at bancon, you see it all which I love because you really get to see the difference you have made. It has been great working alongside my manager Anton Brisuda who I am learning so much from.

I then worked with elior Group, which is a French catering company with a base in Milan. I loved this project again because you get to see it end-to-end, but it also gave me a chance to speak Italian and English. Sometimes we would have a client call in three different languages. I speak fluent Italian which the client really appreciated. When you are speaking in such technical detail about the migration of important data, you cannot afford for anything to be misinterpreted so I was really pleased in this instance to not just play a part in the technical side of the project, transferring documents from one company code to another, but also in making sure all communication was seamless and the client felt totally at ease, understanding all stages of the process.

So, we have to ask, you can speak English, Portuguese and Italian, are there any other languages you can speak?

Yes, I can speak Spanish and I’m learning German. I have always picked up a new language much quicker when I am completely immersed in it, so recently spent three weeks in Germany. Having to order a coffee every day or ask for directions really helps you to learn the basics, alongside watching children’s cartoons. Good communication is what brings people closer together so when I am able to speak with our clients in their native language it just makes them really happy and the whole project more enjoyable for everyone.

What have you enjoyed the most about working at bancon?

Everyone is just so welcoming. It is not easy starting a new job during a pandemic and I still haven’t met anyone in person yet, but working with the team virtually has been really easy. I am really enjoying working for a smaller consultancy where I can see the project through end-to-end and I have loved having the opportunity to travel too.

What would you say to someone who is thinking about joining bancon?

If you are someone who wants to work in a multicultural environment, enjoy speaking and learning different languages and would like to have the opportunity to travel then bancon works with clients and projects all over the world, and like me – you will really enjoy the variety.

If you’re looking for a new career opportunity, take a look at ourcareers page or get in touch withClaudia Hoffmann.