Anais Pau, Supply Chain Associate, Wayfair

Degree subject Languages, Lierature and Foreign Civilizations (University of Angers, France)
Job title Supply Chain Associate
Employer Wayfair
Languages English, French, Spanish, German

Could you provide us with a summary
of how you became interested in a
career using languages?

I have been interested in having a
career in the language sector as far
back as I remember. When I was 13, I
got chosen to go on three weeks trip
to Dublin with my school. I did not
speak much English at the time but I
loved the language and the people
and I discovered that I have learned
more in three weeks than I did since I
started learning English. After this, I
started to learn Spanish and German.
Then, I entered a European High
School in France where languages and
linguistic trips were encouraged and
promoted. I graduated from high
school in 2010 where I took intensive
English classes and then went to
University to study English in depth.
By the end of my degree, my level of
English had really improved thanks to
my involvement and my interest in
the language. When I decided to leave
France and go to Erasmus in Ireland –
I knew I would use my language skills
in my career. I have now been three
years living in Ireland, using my
language skills on a daily basis and
developing further skills.

How did your degree contribute to you
working with Wayfair, and what was
involved in the selection process for
the programme?

My degree had a huge impact on
getting my job in Wayfair. English is
now the language I use every day in
my role. My English got better while
working in Wayfair and I communicate
with people from all over Europe and
the world, using English. It’s integral to
my work.

What does your daily role involve, and
what’s been one of the biggest
challenges so far?

I have only been working in my current
role only for a short period of time, but
one of my biggest challenges is to
manage my own time as we are
entrusted with a lot of responsibility
and autonomy. In my role in I can
manage my own time as long as I am
getting the work done by the end of
the day. This involves contacting
suppliers via phone or email to ensure
their inventory is available on our
database to provide daily or weekly
updates and to prevent backorders on
our site. I really enjoy this role as I am
practicing my languages skills and I
also learn to work faster and also to
see what is the priority during my day.

What’s exciting about your job?

I learn something new every day. We
are working in open spaces and it is
easy to ask questions. We have
colleagues from all over Europe and so
many different languages are spoken
around the office and that is a part of
the job I really enjoy. I am learning
Portuguese at the moment thanks to
the people who are surrounding me in
the office.

What advice would you have for
students and graduates?

The piece of advice I will give to
students and graduates is to be open
minded and travel and learn. It really
helps you to find your path. When I
arrived in Ireland, I did not really know
what I wanted to do as a career. I found
my path while travelling and meeting
new people. It is also important to
have contacts with new people – that’s
what helped get me this job in Wayfair.

How do you hope to see your career
developing over the next few years?

I hope my career will help me develop
my language skills and I will also like to
be more involved in the company I
work for. I think my new role will allow
me to do this so I’m looking forward to
exciting times ahead.