One Akamai - Insight from Shu (Shanghai, China)
Hello everyone,
I am Omar from Akamai’s Talent Acquisition team in APJ.
Hiring great talent is such a joy for me working at Akamai. Akamai’s culture and life is enriched by each individual employee. Coming together and working as “One Akamai“ is a concept that we truly believe in. Akamai gives its employees the flexibility to work from home, hybrid, or in the office.
I had the pleasure to hear from one of our Senior Major Account Executives located in China, Shu Jun Xing. Below is the conversation we had: O is Omar, and S is Shu!
S: I joined Akamai in 2017 as a sales representative for the media team in China. I love this big family very much, and my colleagues and bosses have given me great encouragement and support. In 2019, I had my baby, and work life balance is particularly important. The flexible working style of Akamai allows me to have some time to take care of my young daughter in addition to completing my work.
O: What is your primary role at Akamai?
S: Account Executive (Sales)
O: Can you describe a typical day or week in your role?
S: Typically Monday mornings and Thursday afternoons are saved for internal meetings. Other times, I spend it visiting clients, handling administration tasks, and some training on my own. I spend about 25% of my time in the office, 25% at home, and the rest of the time I am visiting customers.
O: What is an example of Akamai’s flexible working style that helps you?
S: If I do not need to go to the office early in the morning, I have time to drive my daughter to kindergarten. To me it is a beautiful parent-child time.
O: How often do you go to the office?
S: Twice a week.
O: How often do you visit clients/customers?
S: Almost every day.
O: What resources does your company provide to help wfh?
S: We were given subsidies for providing office equipment, especially during the epidemic period.
O: What is the best thing you like about working from home?
S: I get to listen to music while working, as well as eating snacks. My daughter likes the snacks too, as you can see from the photo!
O: How does your team communicate daily? Is it effective?
S: We communicate frequently online and in the office. When online, we use a variety of tools such as WeChat, phone, video calls, and so on.
O: What is the team atmosphere/culture?
S: It is very inclusive, with freedom and flexibility to work how you want. The team atmosphere is very motivating for everyone.
O: Does the team have any chances to meet in person for socializing, team building. etc?
S: Yes! We meet often and do things like play tennis, dine together, go boating, and so on.
O: How would you describe your team leaders and their leadership style?
S: They are very positive and willing to listen. This helps keep the team culture open and collaborative
Hopefully this gives you an idea of what a day in the life of Shu looks like at Akamai. As Major Account Executive, she visits clients often. When she is not actively selling she is either working while enjoying a coffee or building relationships in the office or at home with her family around. Shu is one of our amazing members of the OneAkamai team that helps the business keep moving forward. With the ability to work remotely, she can help fulfill our mission in an environment that is most suitable for her.
If you're interested in joining us, check out the careers page!