Hi there! I’m Omar, 25 years old and IAM consultant at IS4U. Two years ago, I started my career at IS4U. It has been quite a ride where I have learned a lot and gained a new “work”family. Let me take you through my personal journey. We’ll start at the beginning!
Where it all started
Let’s go back to 2020, also known as the year the Covid pandemic started. That was my last year of studying Applied Computer Science at the PXL in Hasselt. To graduate, you needed to complete an internship. I chose to do my internship at a company that mainly focused on developing promotional websites in an old school way. They wanted to implement a new and modern system and had two interns to figure that out: one of my classmates and me. We did research regarding the comparison of different providers: Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, ..
We even set up scripts from A to Z to modernize the website. When our internship came to an end, we were told that there were plans to hire us both, but due to Covid there was no room to expand the team. The fact that they wanted to hire me, gave my self-confidence the boost it needed. It allowed me to enter the work field with a positive mindset but first… Holiday!
IS4-ME?
My IS4U-adventure started in October. Cindy, the recruiter at IS4U contacted me through LinkedIn and asked if she could call me to discuss a job opportunity in IAM. From there, it all went pretty quickly! The IS4U team showed a genuine interest in me and that interest was mutual: IAM (Identity and Access Management) is not something that you learn in school so I had no idea what to expect but that was quite a trigger! I didn’t know much about IAM yet but I also finished my internship with flying colours so I was ready for the next challenge.
IS4U organizes an IAM Academy for people who want to enhance their IT security knowledge, people like me. But… The academy takes place once a year in September and I had just missed it. Despite the fact that I had no IAM experience and had just missed the Academy, I was hired and a customized ‘academy roadmap’ was created for me. Because I had to learn all of these different flows, we created our own flow. Each week I had to give a presentation about the technologies I worked on that week. In this way I showcased my newly acquired knowledge.
At first I dreaded giving these presentations but looking back at it, I quickly realized that by having to present my findings, I really had to understand what I was talking about. It forced me to really dive deep into the world of IAM and luckily, I loved that new world!
IAM HAPPY HERE
Fast forward to today, I’m working on a project where I focus on ISAM (IBM Security and Acces Management) and ISIM (IBM Security Identity Manager). I’m one of the few people within IS4U that masters both, meaning I can make connections between the two systems very easily. I get a lot of satisfaction out of the project – everything is always interconnected and I like that! Once a week, I go to the client in Brussels, otherwise you can find me behind my home desk or at the IS4U office in Kontich.
What I like the most at working at IS4U is the atmosphere among colleagues! You get a lot of freedom by working at IS4U, you can work from home, you have flexible hours,… Even though we work from home a lot, we still have a very good relationship among the team. We do a lot of things to maintain this relationship. For example, once a month, we order pizzas on Friday, last year in June we went to Tenerife with the whole company for a week where we got to know everyone on a deeper, personal level (read more here). It also helps that we are not with 1000 people, I know everyone and I really like that! At IS4U, you can talk to anyone about anything. It’s not strictly business 100% of the time.
There’s a big difference between working at IS4U and other companies. What you see is what you get – no fake promises but only transparency and openness. A classmate of mine accepted an offer at another company, and they promised him a lot. When he actually started working there, it was all a big letdown. I think that that is the biggest advantage of working at the IS4U group. Dedicated business units with small teams. You recognize every face and everybody is just super approachable.
I also have the feeling that I am evolving in my personal skills and confidence as well as my career: I learn a lot by just doing it. When I’m now in meetings with colleagues, I have the feeling that I “know” what I’m talking a bit, or at least more than 2 years ago 
My goals? I want to specialize in a specific field and learn more technologies. Besides that, I also look forward to evolving on a more personal level! Not only do I like the fact that I now have the opportunity to really become an expert, but I also find that I really enjoy working with people. For now I’m really happy in my current position. But who knows… Maybe in a few years you’ll read a story here of me managing my own team?
Ready to join our team, make sure to take a look at the career page or contact my colleague Cindy Van den Hoecke via cindy.vandenhoecke@is4u.be
