Andrea Dessi, team leader at Tableau Software, tells us why he chose Ireland as a place to live and work, and why he’s in the best role of his career.
Where are you from?
I am from Sardinia, a beautiful island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. My region became part of the then Italian kingdom in the second half of the 19th century after French and Spanish domination.
We are really proud of our origins, our native mother-tongue (it is not Italian) and our history, as our queen Eleonora D’Arborea is famous for having promulgated a code of law ahead of her time (Carta de Logu – 1392) and our Nuragic culture is one of the first ancient civilisations of the Mediterranean.
Likely part of the Shardana sea people, Nuragics challenged the Egyptian authority in the Mediterranean Sea. Nowadays Sardinia is famous for its beautiful landscapes and shorelines, for its hospitality and friendly attitude towards tourists, and of course for a gentle and lovely climate.
My hometown is Cabras, a village of about 10,000 facing the bay of Oristano, famous for being the producer of the finest bottarga (dried fish eggs), for the Sinis shorelines made by the rice-looking sand and for the Mont’e Prama Giants. Cagliari, with its wonderful football team (Fortza Casteddu), is the capital city located on the southern side, 100km away from Cabras.
How long have you been in Ireland?
I moved to Ireland almost eight years ago.
Why did you move here?
Ireland is one the most important technology hubs across Europe. Plenty of IT/software companies from different locations around the world opted for the Emerald Isle to set up their European headquarters.
This country has been the perfect fit for my tech background and I don’t regret my decision to move here. Dublin is a multicultural city populated by nice and friendly people who always welcome new people coming from abroad.
What work do you do?
At Tableau Software I lead an awesome team of talented and skilled tech support people. My role is to motivate and inspire team members, thus helping them to provide our customers with a delightful tech-support experience, and intervening when necessary to help the group to resolve technical issues related to our Tableau software.
Among other tasks, I ensure that my agents receive the coaching and training to effectively perform, succeed and improve; I recognise, discuss and celebrate singular and group accomplishments during our meetings, and I make sure that the voice of the team is heard by our senior managers.
Our team has built a creative environment, oriented to trust and open communication, where every day we learn from each other, and our group dynamics positively affect the relationships we have with our customers.
How would you describe your working environment?
Working for Tableau is the best thing that has ever happened to my career. I am surrounded by a group of talented people who contribute to team success with their diverse set of skills.
Such an environment provides a continuous motivation, and although our job may be challenging sometimes, every day we are as happy to come to work as if it was our first day. It is such a great place to work.
What do you like most about your job?
The company culture is one big trademark that makes Tableau the ideal place to work. Working with people who are open to giving and receiving constructive feedback helps everybody to become a better professional and human being.
It may be hard to believe for those who have never experienced it, but every evening when I am finishing my shift, I am looking forward to starting again the next morning.
Was it difficult to adjust to living and working in Ireland?
After almost eight years I have just realised I am getting older as my memories are fading away!
Joking aside, I have never experienced any great difficulty. If I had to find one, I would say that when I arrived my English level was really basic, however, I managed to find a job in 20 days and after seven months my communication skills improved enough to allow me to get a position more suitable for my technical background.
What surprised you about moving to Ireland?
Before I moved I was expecting cold and bone-chilling weather, and although I would not consider Ireland as one of the sunniest place in the world, I have been positively surprised to find an acceptable climate.
A well-known saying states that “The devil is not always as ugly as they painted him”. Well, if you plan to come here, bring an umbrella anyway.
How does your working life help to make you feel at home here?
Working in a multicultural environment is nowadays a requisite for a company to be successful in the market. As this happens almost everywhere across the rest of Europe, the working life is pretty similar no matter the country.
In my humble opinion, home is more a spiritual concept than a physical one. Working with excellent people makes you feel at home no matter where you are based, for instance.
What do you like most about your adopted home?
Having travelled around for business and leisure, I have a baseline to compare Dublin with other capital cities around Europe. The pros of living and working here are mainly related to an environment that presents itself as a big city (plenty of opportunities, different activities available and so on) with the warm-heartedness of a small village.
I have not seen anything like that in other countries so far.
