|
Judith HERNANDEZ
Venezuelian citizen
Total Venezuela. Head of the General Services
Office.
Qualified as a Translator and Interpreter
at Central University of Caracas in Venezuela
and at University of Mons in Belgium.
Has spent her entire career at the Venezuelan
subsidiary, which she has watched expand.
I finished studying and went back to Caracas
where I found my first job, as a Secretary
at an EEC delegation, replacing someone
on maternity leave.
Then I heard about an entrance examination
at INEUCA (Industrias Europeas Compañía
Anónima), the Group’s first
operation here in Venezuela. I took it and
was put in charge of welcoming expatriates.
Establishing the
subsidiary in Venezuela.
Then Total decided to open an office in
Caracas. I worked for the Director at the
time. It was a small sales office; there
were three or four of us working there.
We are more than 150 today. But, at the
beginning, we really had to multitask.
We landed a few contracts fairly soon, and
grew fast. Now I’m in charge of General
Services and of Expatriate Assistance.
Internal Organisation.
On the expat side, I take care of the paperwork
(visas and so on), then help them with accommodation
when they get here, get their children into
school if they have any and, basically,
take care of anything they need to ease
into their new life here as smoothly as
possible.
On the internal organisation side, I take
care of the events that take place at the
subsidiary. We had the Group CEO here for
a couple of days last week, for example.
General Services covers site maintenance,
furniture, and all the administrative organisation.
As an aside, we’re planning to move
soon…
One of the subsidiary’s
mainstays.
What I like about this job is that there’s
always something happening, even if some
of the work is routine. I’m planning
to stay with Total for the long term. I
feel very attached to it. I have seen Total
develop in Venezuela. We have changed so
much and come such a long way since the
early days. I’m one of its mainstays,
and I think everybody acknowledges that.
What next? I’ve spoken about this
with my Human Resources Manager. I’d
like to work somewhere else (but with Total).
It would be a new challenge – and
one I’d look forward to tackling!
|
