Our success stories: Lorenzo and Sara recount their experience

RAJA Italia took part in the Career Day Cattolica di Piacenza, the historic placement event of theUniversità Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, meeting undergraduates and graduates from the four Italian branches.

It was a meeting point where RAJA, together with over 120 companies, made available to young people entering the world of work some consulting and orientation activities such as CV-check, speed interview, and assessment aimed at testing hard and soft, digital or ‘green’ skills.

Shortening the distance between companies and tomorrow’s professionals is the mission that RAJA Italia and Cattolica share.
In the words of our colleagues, Lorenzo and Sara, former Cattolica students, we want to tell you how this commitment is realised along the study path.

How did the Catholic University connect you with the world of work, both in terms of skills and opportunities?

Lorenzo

Università Cattolica provides so many tools to students who, like me, have found their way into the world of work:

• The Career Day where you can get to know different realities in the area within a single event and thus focus on the sector or professional career of interest.
• The Internship and Placement service with which you can access active job offers and get directly in touch with companies through a preferential channel
• Company visits and internships with which to gain insight into work processes and routines

In addition to these tools that, by their very nature, encourage contact with the world of work, what most put me in touch with companies and allowed a continuous enrichment of my skills was the training approach adopted by the professors. This was not only aimed at transferring notions, but at stimulating in us students critical and proactive thinking, leading us to change our point of view and making us think like a professional. To give you an example: I remember that within my course we were given really innovative exam tests where we had to manage budgets, timing and resources and then define an investment plan for the company. It was a challenging way in which each student was called upon to step into the shoes of an entrepreneur and make decisions… and this really helped me to face work challenges with greater awareness.

Sara

As a student, I remember finding it really difficult to know where to start, which door to knock on to enter the labour market and in this, Università Cattolica, was a real landmark for me. Over the years, it has made available to students not only a network of companies that are attentive to young people, but also a team of professionals, who coordinate the activities of Internship&Placement, who support students in orientation, research and preparation for interviews. In my experience, thanks to the internship&placement portal, I found two opportunities from which two work experiences resulted, one of them at RAJA.

Turning to the other channels activated by Cattolica, I have always found the one-to-one meetings, where students can introduce themselves to companies and make initial contact, very effective. And the testimonials from professionals in the classroom, where they can be inspired by the direct experiences of those who have already been in the world of work for some time.

With respect to skills, I thank my experience at Cattolica for allowing me to grow humanly through business games during which I had to deal with students who had different project approaches to mine.

Tell us about your path in RAJA: your initial expectations, where you have arrived now and how you see your future in the company

Lorenzo

I joined RAJA in 2021 as an intern within the Sales team and initially joined our Customer Care colleagues in managing customers by learning how to identify their needs. Over time I matured and refined my sales skills and today I hold the role of Key Account independently managing a portfolio of customers located in the Lombardy region. I would describe my journey at RAJA in three words: consistency, trust and personal growth.

My initial expectations have indeed been fulfilled by RAJA in terms of career path and training. And this was possible through the great trust that was built with the team and therefore with the company that allowed me to grow and experience new tasks in the first year after hiring. Throughout this journey there has never been a lack of collaboration and sharing of tools with which to gradually tackle the entrusted objectives.

In my future at RAJA I see an increasingly dynamic environment in which to continue my growth. I would like RAJA to continue to focus its attention on young people by creating moments of exchange with which to bring them closer to the processes and different professions in our organisation.

Sara

I joined RAJA in 2021 as Product Manager Assistant within the Product team, supporting the staff in analysis and reporting activities and maintaining the product database. Over time, my role evolved by actively collaborating with the other company functions until I was able to independently take care of projects aimed at improving the efficiency of the tools for managing the item master data that make up the company’s offer.

Before joining the company, I did not know RAJA, but I was immediately galvanised by its history and presence built up over time, its values and its approach to sustainability, which I have found throughout my journey. Just as the themes of transparency and collaboration with which the group distinguishes itself, I found them again day after day in the accessibility of information, the availability of colleagues and the timely sharing of objectives.

I would sum up my future at RAJA in two words: evolution – which for me means increasing my responsibilities and new career paths – and Europe, which means strengthening the sharing of best practices and competences within the RAJA Group.

What would you recommend to undergraduates facing the job market?

Lorenzo

To answer this question, I thought of the advice I would give to Lorenzo a few years ago: understand your interests and aptitudes before jumping into the job search. Once you have identified the sectors or the professional role to which you aspire, find out what skills the market is looking for and the most similar roles to fit into your desired career path. And once the fateful moment of the application has arrived, always remember that the CV is the first tool with which to present yourself to the company, and therefore the motivation, interest and skills that you want to make available to the company must be concentrated in it. It is not an easy task, but it can make all the difference.

Sara

To the professionals of tomorrow I would say take risks, don’t let yourself be held back by the fear of making mistakes… because they say those who don’t do, don’t make mistakes… and to grow you have to get your hands dirty, taking into account a few mistakes along the way.

I am aware that today’s job market faces many critical issues and uncertainties, so I would like to advise people not to get discouraged and to continue searching for job opportunities, always keeping a watchful eye on the economic scenarios that influence the market itself. To do so, I recommend exploring this world as soon as possible by opening your LinkedIn profile.

Being part of the network of partner companies of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Piacenza represents for RAJA a significant opportunity for dialogue with the academic world, through which to initiate shared projects aimed at fostering the attractiveness of universities, the employability of students, and the growth of the wealth of skills in the local area.