A Day in the Life with Isabelle Laskaris, Support Consultant, Talis
What does your typical day look like?
I work in a different time zone to my other team members, so I like to start my day off with a big cup of tea while I catch up on emails and messages from colleagues. Throughout a typical day, I check and answer queries that come in through our customer support portal. This ranges from simple questions and completing quick tasks, to more complex problem-solving. I’m also often speaking to our customers on calls or through sessions that we run. This is a great part of the job because I love hearing about the work that universities are doing and helping them achieve this through our products.
Talis also embraces flexible hours, which I appreciate as it means I can manage my own time. Due to working across different time zones, I do work some later hours in order to attend meetings and catch up with colleagues. As I’m somewhat of a night owl, this suits me just fine!
What was it like switching to a fully remote job (or what was it like starting a new job remotely)
I had never worked from home until COVID hit in Australia, but it did not take long to make me a convert. When I started at Talis, I had already been working almost exclusively from home for a year and a half due to the pandemic, so the transition was quite easy. Setting yourself up with a nice space and the right equipment is important, and I love the flexibility of being able to go for a walk around my neighbourhood to clear my head when needed.
What excites you the most about your job at Talis?
Communicating with and supporting universities across the globe. I’m passionate about teaching and learning and have a background as a Liaison Librarian in academic libraries so one of the most exciting aspects of working for Talis is being able to support a wide range of institutions.
Explain what sort of a company Talis is to work for?
Talis is a welcoming and passionate place to work for. There’s a culture of transparent communication and a real input into sharing and helping colleagues feel connected to each other and to the achievements of each team.
What team(s) are you directly involved with and how do you ensure you all connect as a fully distributed team?
I work closely with a number of different teams throughout the business. This includes our Consulting and Product teams, which the Services team has regular meetings with. I also work with our Marketing team when planning events such as Talis Insight APAC. Staying connected is important so we use a number of tools to do this including Google Meet, email, and Slack. We also use Elevate, one of our products, to share notes between teams.
When you are not at work, how do you take time-out?
I enjoy cooking while listening to music, which I’ve found is a great way to wind down after work. I also like going for walks with my Maltese Shih Tzu (Albus), reading, and watching movies and television shows.
