Meet INSO

What were you doing before you started working at INSO?

Back in 2010, I joined the British Council as a project manager for vocational education and technical education. And I worked there for six years covering IT, programmes, the website and other bits along the way. I decided I needed a career change and a new challenge, so in November 2015 I started a job with INSO as an Information Officer.

Tell us about your journey within INSO and the roles you’ve held.

One of the things that I’m proud of as an INSO employee is that there’s always opportunities for promotion. After spending almost two years as an Information Officer, I was offered the position of HR and Admin Manager. And of course I took it. And then in 2018 I got promoted to Operations Manager, which is my current role.

Many of my colleagues were also promoted to higher positions. I think we are all really proud of each other’s achievements and how we’ve lived up to the expectations of our senior managers.

I feel really feel motivated every morning to go to work. We are lucky that INSO is such an interesting place to work and we are not stuck just dealing with the same boring and perpetual tasks.

What inspires you at work?

One of the things that keeps me driven to always do my job the best I can is that we have new challenges every day.

INSO has been making a difference for the last 10 years, but we still have policies to update and systems to improve. This brings positive challenges to my daily work, especially when a project has been delivered and used by colleagues and you can see your work helping develop the organisation.

Like everywhere in the world, Iraq has its uniqueness and its complications. Logistics is sometimes a challenge, but reach and accessibility is at the core of our work to deliver a high-quality product so we work to navigate these issues. Sometimes a simple task somewhere else could take hours to accomplish, or a process could be very complicated and take a long time to get clear information about and complete.

Overcoming these challenges at the end of a day makes me feel very good with a sense of achievement. They keep me inspired to keep going as I’m not alone and I have amazing colleagues supporting me.

Why do you like working at INSO?

Aside from having the opportunity to get promoted to a different area of work, one of the best things for me as a local staff is that INSO management team listen. They always hear my ideas and take my recommendations, suggestions and solutions in our planning process. Collectively we develop strong work and communication plans.

The other thing I like about INSO is its diversity; colleagues from different countries, culture and languages, even the local staff are from different provinces in Iraq.

We embrace our differences and work together in a unique way where colleagues are open about their thoughts, polite in their approaches and helping each other without restrictions. I’ve got very many lovely memories and many to come. It’s never an issue at all hanging out after working hours and trying to find a topic that involves everyone. Giggles, discussions and music are always present.