As part of Avanade’s culture of mentorship and learning, every employee is assigned a career adviser (CA) who guides them through their career, helping everyone at Avanade grow professionally and feel inspired, confident and cared for. Career Adviser Spotlights shine a light on Avanade CAs who go above and beyond for their advisees.

This post features Stan Laufik, Architecture Executive, based in Singapore.

Meet Stan. Architecture Executive in Singapore, member of our first Technology Leadership Career Path (TLCP), and an exceptional career adviser. After seven years as a CA, and described as a purist, Stan still asks himself "Is there something more I could be doing for my advisee?"

How long have you been a CA at Avanade?

I’ve been with Avanade for almost 10 years now, and out of those I’ve been a Career Adviser for about 7 years (this includes being the “Career Manager” in the previous model).

What’s the most rewarding thing about being a CA?

Being with Avanade for some time, I have the privilege of seeing the growth and seeing the progress that our people are making, as they align their career paths with the company growth and priorities. While in no way I can claim that I have a formula for guaranteed success, it is incredibly rewarding seeing the examples where my advice and guidance nudged my advisees towards some very impressive career and professional growth.

How do you encourage your advisees to be curious, embrace challenges, and leverage our limitless opportunities to learn?

I’m honored to be part of the first cohort of our newly launched Technical Leadership career part at Avanade. This career path is a great demonstration how Avanade is committed to supporting people with technical passion to reach the highest career levels in the company, without giving up the deep hands-on obsession with technology. I try to encourage this technical passion in all my advisees. In the practical terms I usually suggest the following:

• Try to get as many advanced Microsoft and Azure certifications as you can! In the recent years Microsoft has really improved the certification exams, and I see a lot of practical applicability of the exam theory to the work we’re doing for our clients
• Pluralsight is your friend! There are some really amazing courses on there, I lost count how many times I’ve became “an expert” on something over a weekend! (Don’t tell anyone!). It’s an amazing resource, that is just one click away!
• And the uncomfortable truth is – there probably isn’t a more impactful way to learn than solving problems for our clients during a challenging delivery. Obviously, we don’t want many of those – but if you hear about one, don’t shy away! Dive in, apply yourself – and you will very likely emerge on the other side stronger and more confident, with your skills in demand, and ready for a bigger and more exciting challenges.

What technology (apps or programs) help you manage your relationships with advisees?

In addition to relying on “fwd_story”, I have my cheat sheet in OneNote. Nothing too elaborate – just few bullet points captured after each conversation: current challenges, goals, plans, etc. It’s a quick way to refresh my memory before the next conversation with my advisee.

How do you balance/integrate your role as a CA into your work?

I schedule my recuring monthly 1:1 meeting with all my advisees, and they are highlighted in my calendar with a special color, so they stand out. While COVID has changed it now, I used to try to align these sessions with my coffee breaks for a quality face to face conversations (I’m based in Singapore where everyone is just a few bus stops away). Now, as we are mostly on Teams it has obviously changed, but I’m still trying to find a quiet place for these important meetings. Especially as we have shifted from the heavy end-of-the-year evaluations to ongoing feedback, it’s important to stay connected, so anything that pops up can be addressed early, minimizing bigger course corrections later.

What advice would you give to fellow CAs?

The responsibility that comes with advising someone on their next steps can be definitely overwhelming! Am I giving the right suggestion? Is there something I could be doing more for my advisee? What is the right balance between asking to swim in the deep end and holding the hand? The way I try to approach it is that I ask myself: what is the advice I wish I got when I was in a similar career stage? Of course, it doesn’t apply 100%, as we all have our own unique paths. But as a general approach it seems to work quite well! If you are really lost, it’s very easy to tap into your support system. Your own CA, HR, Project lead, etc. don’t be afraid to reach out!

Thanks, Stan, for being an effective career adviser and for taking the time to share your story with us!

When asked about what makes Stan a great career adviser, this is what we heard:

Being passionate on using technology client problems, continuously pushing people's boundaries (in a good way), carrying a sense of humor, ability to earn the trust from clients and project teams, leading by example, handling tough situations on projects, showing the value to partner and network with a wide group of people, navigating in uncharted territories, finding that balance of being a purist when it comes to Architecture but balancing with ground realities.