Konstantina Tsioli
A short interview with
Konstantina Tsioli
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Konstantina Tsioli earned her degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece, in 2010, followed by a master’s degree in Project and Enterprise Management from University College London. Her academic training provided her with a strong foundation in manufacturing, process optimization, industrial process redesign, resource planning, and project management in the industrial sector.
Can you tell us about your professional journey and how you got started in this field?
I was 18 years old, a bit lost, and I decided to study and finess at Technological Engineering. The reason behind this decision was being a part of this wide range of engineering and fulfilling my inner motive of addressing and solving problem.
I always wanted to work in a factory and complete my journey as an engineer and that’s exactly the plan I followed, by working in a Greek Factory, where I stayed for 6 years, as a quality inspector and R&D leader, a role that I claimed along the way. After that, I remained in the same domain, in an engineering workshop, for 2 more years, among a strongly male-dominated environment. Now, I’m being a part of CORE group, where I initially viewed my career from a different point of view, not as strongly correlated to my academic backround, but eventually closer to my personality’s needs.
Have you ever doubted your abilities and why?
Yes, in the beginning of my career. Mostly because engineering universities are male-dominated and I had this belief that men are more efficient. There is a cliché; when you think of major professions, such as engineer, doctor, lawyer, we tend to think of a man. Even though I managed to complete my academic duties on time, I still doubted myself, forcing me to think I somehow cheated. So, as a next step of joining the field, in practice, I felt like I had to prove to everyone, and mostly myself, that I’m capable and worthy. I fulfilled that, however I realised that my talent and strengths were not necessarily in practical engineering, but closer to my initial motive; problem solving. My experience and expertise, lead to the reassurance of my capabilities, and even second guessing the thought of “doubting myself”.
Did you ever have the impression gender was an important factor on a raise, promotion, or key assignment?
Not always, but yes, mostly in Greece and less abroad. Especially in male-dominated corporate enviroments sometimes the positions are strongly corellated among men. However, when it comes to your working position, if the “shoe fits”, it’s a rare occasion of not being recognised for your efforts and performance, and not claiming your rights as a worker. Even though I dealt with this in the past, it doesn’t scare me and it doesn’t feel like a barrier anymore. This is a more complicated matter though, as it depends on the resilience and force of someone’s personality, and sometimes it may solely come from personal growth and experience.
During your career, have you ever been mentored?
Yes and I feel blessed and lucky for this. This is not always the case, but there are times where you meet someone that carries the “mentor” role in our life. Personally, I perceive a mentor as a “corporate” phycologist and supporter. My first mentor, was outside of my working environment, from a person in the same domain, that was really interested about my career path. It was eye-opening, expanding my horizons and point of view, which where limited back then, in the enclosureness of my corporate environment. In my current job, I view Pavlos, our Director, as my mentor, since we have imeddiate partnership and collaboration. With his insightful inputs, he has helped me a lot throughout my journey here. Moreover, If I could count that as a mentor, I would add my first boss, who owned a multi-memebered company and was really smart. We collaborated for a project, and in contrast with his strict persona, he managed to really decode my character and see my true potentials, even motivating me to follow management positions. I was not exactly able to process that, at the moment given, as it was kinda contradictory to my engineering goals, but I realized them later on, having in mind his words. This boosted me a lot!
If you could give some advice to your younger self or other girls, what would that be?
Try fearlessly. In the beginning of our career, we tend to be scared of errors and mistakes, but in reality the damage that may occur from a possible mistake is insignificant, because you’re just starting your own long path. If you have an idea, access your sources and surroundings and go for it. The unnecessary stress and anxiety, from my first steps, is still something I recall, and wish I could minimize. It was a shame. I don’t regret me staying there for many years, but maybe I could relocate to a better corporate environment sooner. Move forward if you feel restricted and trapped in a situation. Sometimes you may even feel like you’re not being supported and promoted by your supervisor. As a youngster, this may feel very hectic, so it’s in your hands if you want to take the ownership of your work and actions, by strategically presenting your skills, or move forward. Whatever harms our creativity doesn’t eventually work out for us.
