Meet our Alumni: Serena Giust
A chat with Serena Giust, Alumna of the Executive Master in Digital Economics & Entrepreneurship, now Content Design Manager at Meta.
"I care about the words I write and the people I work with" it is written on your website. Would you like to tell us what you care about?
Gladly! This phrase is kind of my mission, the purpose of my work. My role is Content Design Manager at Meta: I manage a team that does content design for the sites and applications we work on. The goal is to create simple, intuitive content that helps users navigate. I work remotely, in the Netherlands, but my team is distributed mainly in England and California. In my career, content has always been at the center of my work, but my role has changed over the years: I started by dealing with influencer marketing, then with social media, newsletters and blogs, and finally with microtext and design.
What do you take with you from your experience at H-FARM College?
In H-FARM College I learned to look beyond, to dream big. It was a mind-opening experience, and it helped me identify new career possibilities, jobs I didn't know existed. The best thing I have left from this experience is definitely the network I created: the professors I met during that time are now esteemed colleagues and friends, my classmates the same. I tried to come back as much as possible over the years, and meet new students: with some of them I kept in touch, started mentorship paths, and made friends. I am a big believer in the value of relationships and that the value you give to others, then gets returned to you.
Flexibility, curiosity, and the ability to adapt to change are essential skills in many ways. Do you remember a particular time in your life when you had to reinvent yourself, work-wise?
There were a couple of moments in my career that challenged me, but were ultimately great stages of growth. The first was when I started working exclusively in English: not being a native speaker, I feared that I was less good than my colleagues. Actually, with years and experience, I realized that my knowing different languages was an advantage and allowed me to bring a different point of view to the team. The second key moment in my career was when I started managing a team: no matter how much you read and study about leadership, it is only with experience that you learn how to manage different situations. And in this, soft skills are absolutely key, to grow in business they count more than anything else.
Do you have a motto, a phrase you use to empower yourself?
One of my favorite quotes is "The best way to predict the future is to create it" because it reminds me that we have an active role in our future, and that there are a lot of opportunities and different paths to take in front of us. It is important to have dreams and goals, create the conditions for them to come true, keep our values in mind and change course when necessary. Every path has its obstacles; try not to lose sight of the final goal.
What advice would you give to those who would like to pursue the same career as you?
Making a career abroad, working in large multinational companies, is definitely a great opportunity that allows you to grow a lot and fast. It also requires a lot of energy and adaptation; it is not for everyone. If you think this could be your path, try to seize every opportunity that comes your way, get in touch with those who do the work you aspire to, keep up to date with the industry, get inspired, invest in yourself and don't stop at the first defeats. I look forward to reading your interviews in the future!
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