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Meet Serge Taelemans – Lead Consultant Developer

Hello, Serge! Where did your interest in IT come from?

You have to go back a long way to know my interest in IT, December 1983, when I bought my first Micro Computer (Zx 81 Sinclair with 1K memory). My first intention to purchase this device was for gaming, and after I also got into basic programming. Basically, my interest comes from my friends who are into IT as well.

And did you have other interests when you were younger?

Playing soccer on a good level & listening to music.

So you already have quite some experience. Where did you work before coming to Devoteam?

I have been working at several large companies as an Account Manager. The biggest ones are Redcorp, Computerland, Vision Consulting and I’ve worked at many more as well.

The beginning of the beginning!

And why did you make the decision to work at Devoteam? 

I started my career as an Account Manager or sales-person. I won a lot of big contracts which gave me much satisfaction. Of course, these big contracts brought me financial stability but in the end, personally, I did not feel satisfied. But at the dawn of my 50th birthday, I realised that a change was needed. In June 2020, a friend of mine put me in touch with Arnaud Delcroix at Devoteam. He gave me my chance and allowed me to make the next step. 

What a radical change! So did you also change jobs within Devoteam?

So I made the decision to completely change my career and start a job as a ServiceNow Developer. I do not regret this shift at all, which brings me a lot of satisfaction in a sustainable way. Thanks to the trust that Devoteam showed me, every day is a victory for me.

What else are you interested in outside of work?

My schedule is already busy with my 3 children, one of whom also works at Devoteam. When I have time left I devote it to reading (thriller, sci-fi, manga), listening to music (DJ sets) ,going to concerts and support my soccer team RWDM.

Could you share a bit more information on projects you worked on here?

My first project was a POC (Proof Of Concept) for STIB, it was an interface for their incident desk. Back then I was a developer, still at STIB, as part of the implementation of Servicenow. I was in charge of the Incident, Change, Problem and Service Portal processes. Subsequently, I was enrolled in the Iris Dispatch project which aimed to create a Servicenow application that could manage all incidents on the STIB network.

Currently I’m dispatched at Fluvius. Fluvius is a grid company and work in all Flemish cities and municipalities, with approximately 5,400 colleagues, build and manage the public utility lines in the street that bring electricity, natural gas, sewerage and heat to their customers. In this context, my role is to manage the digital meters in ServiceNow as well as the interaction with other tools such as TopDesk and Jira Service Management.

Which was your favourite project?

My current project allows me to have great latitude in my work. The atmosphere is also very good with my Devoteam colleague (Mathias Smits) as well as with the people at Fluvius.

The formula for happiness ?

What do you consider as your greatest achievement?

I can’t find anything in particular that I’m proud of. It’s more of a whole, namely my career change at 50. It’s not always been easy, but at no time have I regretted it.

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop” Confucius

Do you have any special message left you would like to share?

To conclude, I will address the elements representing the winning formula that suits me well. This is not a universal experience, but my winning formula is as follows: Respect for others, exchange/sharing of experience, self-confidence and a positive attitude. Thanks to that, I’m able to meet all customer expectations.

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” – Michael Jordan

Thanks a lot, Serge!