The Story of an Assistant Engineer at Huawei Senegal Service...

Hi, I am Deborah HOUNGBEDJI from Benin and I am an Assistant Engineer at Huawei Senegal Service & Delivery Department.

In March, after applying to the International Students Graduate Recruitment Program, I had an interview in Huawei office at Harbin/China. A few months later, last August, there I was, footing again Senegal Earth. I was very happy about this opportunity to work in Africa, in a country where I have studied telecoms before flying to China.

The October 5^th night, almost at 11 pm, I was here in Dakar, happy but tired. The following day, I was ready at 8 AM to attend the training. I usually come to class late but this was different: my first day at Huawei Company, Come on... I had to make a good impression, you know… The training program was very dense with an introduction to Huawei culture, service delivery business basics, mobile networks and a lot of practice on site. 

During the training period, I had learned a lot about radio part of the mobile network, Huawei Products designed for mobile networks, Fiber Optic Deployment, Site Supervision. Another valuable lesson I have learned during the training was the many different types of work an Engineer has to perform, which in turn, have provided me with more insight into the different types of roles and responsibilities that I could perform, as a wireless Engineer.

All of this was being done in a multi-cultural atmosphere, with the local Senegalese staff, my team members from various countries in Africa, and the Chinese supervisors. I passed the probation and there I am as an official member of the wireless team in PSD department.

My experience here in Huawei, even though it just a few months, was not a piece of cake to eat for me. Indeed, this is my first work experience and it is quite different from everything I have learned in university.

 I had a lot of issues but the main issue for me was to combine three aspects: work well, work fast and work in the team. The school does not teach you how to do it together. 

Reflecting back to my first day at Huawei, it was one of the most memorable days of my time at work. After being introduced to everyone, we had a course on project management from 8 AM to 6 PM and at 7 PM we had a quick exam. I was really surprised and totally lost. I’m used to taking time to better assimilate what I learned the day. At school, the exam is planned and we have time to get ready for it. In conclusion, I got a bad score for that exam. Not only that I got a bad score, but all my colleagues and my superiors were aware of it. For a proud woman like me, this situation was really hard to handle but I decided to do better. The next day I paid more attention to the courses and tried to quickly memorize and understand the key points. As result, I got a better score but still needed improvement. This was the first time I practice done of Huawei core values which is “perseverance”. Never give up!

Huawei is a really challenging and stressful workspace, and honestly to work and grow within the company your only technical skills got from school are not enough.

 I went with a colleague for an ATN swap on site, very far from the city. Once arrived we followed the standard of operation procedure and reported the issues encountered, closed the site and left. While going back home the client called me to have some information about the site but I didn’t have them neither did my colleague. Like a good girl, I politely reply to the customer “sorry, I don’t have that information”. A few days later, I got a blame from my supervisor and the reason was: I didn’t properly manage the customer. The lesson I learned from that day was NEVER said to the customer “I DON’T KNOW”. If there are any uncertainties it always has to be checked numerous times and from a higher level, sources before any conclusions can be made, especially if they are to be presented to a client. 

Huawei is very focused on customer satisfaction and for that reason not only technical skills are enough, management and communication skills are also very important.  

My experience in Huawei Company is not just about work even though 90% of my time is for it. The company sometimes organize one or two parties per month. Some of them are to celebrate employee’s birthday but some are just meant to have an exchange with senior level. During those parties we avoid talking about work, we eat together, we play games...

Those are the only moment you can see your supervisor dance some local dances, sing and laugh.

Overall, my work experience at Huawei was positive. I am very grateful to Huawei Senegal Human Resource Department for this amazing opportunity. Indeed, closed from school and enter a big company is the dream for any student and this dream came true for me. 

I entered the company as a trainee and my hard work and perseverance paid off as they offered me a job at the end of it. In this adventure, I rely a lot on my faith but also on my fellow friends and on my supervisor. I would like to give them a big thumbs up for the support and I hope to quickly grow inside the Huawei Family.

Source: 来华留学生招聘

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