In this month’s interview, we shine the spotlight on Mitchell Meijers, Support Specialist at Elantis. As a young child, Mitchell sparked his interest in technology while playing video games and borrowing his father’s soldering iron. His natural aptitude for technology and ability to learn quickly helped him overcome the obstacles he faced when starting his career in IT. In this interview, Mitchell shares the inspirational story that brought his family from Holland to Canada, as well as the top three things he has learned throughout his IT career so far.
Andrea Nwobosi: Welcome, Mitchell. I am excited to interview you this month for your time in the spotlight, so thank you so much for being here.
Mitchell Meijers: Thank you for having me.
Andrea: How about we dive in first off by you explaining what you do here at Elantis, what your role is, and what a typical day might look like for you?
Mitchell: Well, I work in the Managed Services team of Elantis where we support the solutions that we have built for our clients with any issues that might come up after the project has closed. As for what we do on the day-to-day basis, it ranges from answering questions that our clients may have to even going as far as solving a problem that may come up half a year later.
Andrea: You’ve been with Elantis for a little bit over a year now, right?
Mitchell: Yes, a year and almost two months.
Andrea: What has been a highlight of your time at Elantis so far?
Mitchell: If I were to throw out an answer without putting too much thought into it, I would definitely say a highlight is how easily I actually managed to fit in with Elantis. In terms of just culture, which is not that difficult if you were to think about it.
Andrea: Yes, a lot of similar interests.
Mitchell: Well yeah, that definitely helps, too.
Andrea: I’m glad that that’s been a good highlight for you and that you feel comfortable here and that you’re enjoying your time here.
Let’s go way back to perhaps your childhood or even as you were starting out your career. I’m curious what sparked your interest in technology. Was there a point in time when you realized that this was what you wanted to do, or has technology always been a part of your life?
Mitchell: What really sparked my interest in technology overall was of course, when I was very young, video games, which really came into its own when I was still quite young. The wonders of, say, a glowing screen or fancy sound effects or whatnot is usually enough to lure in a child, right? That is what got my interest started. It was not until much later when I started learning how to fix my own problems with computers, with electronics, I started borrowing my father’s soldering iron even though he needed it for work, and just getting my hands on electronics in general.
Andrea: That’s great. So, it sounds like it’s something that you just have a natural knack for and it’s grown from there. Is that right?
Mitchell: Yes, we could say it is a natural aptitude.
Andrea: Did anyone influence you or inspire you to take this career path that you’re on today? Have you had any mentors? Or was there someone in your life who inspired you?
Mitchell: No, actually it was a decision I had made on my own.
Andrea: That’s excellent. Well, it’s great to know that you knew what you wanted and you went for it.
What is a moment in your career that, looking back, you are most proud of?
Mitchell: Well, for the most part, not necessarily at Elantis, but at previous places I’ve been at, is when a problem is presented and people with senior positions say, “I don’t know how to do this; I can’t figure this out,” and I managed to figure out the solution to the problem. It’s in one way to pad my own ego [ha ha], but on the other hand, the satisfaction of completing something that somebody else couldn’t is always satisfying.
Andrea: It must feel rewarding and satisfying to be able to do that.
What would you say you wake up looking most forward to when you come to work every day?
Mitchell: To hang out with my coworkers, of course. Well, unfortunately Michael’s not here today, otherwise he would say hello.
Andrea: That helps, for sure, to have colleagues that you enjoy working with.
Mitchell: It definitely helps.
Andrea: Let’s reflect back on some challenges that you might have faced. Whether it is related to a specific project—it’s up to you to choose which one—or just a challenge in general, and how you might have overcome that challenge?
Mitchell: I would definitely say one of the challenges I faced was when I first started working at Elantis, in particular, with what software and tools we actually use to support our clients with. The challenge was figuring out first how to actually use said tools to be able to help the clients, of course. It took a good month or two to really get into that. I would say that that was really the biggest challenge—to get used to the new tools, the software that Elantis uses, that I was not really acquainted with. A pretty good example of this, of course, would be Nintex, which I hadn’t heard of until I started working at Elantis. It goes to show how quickly and easily you can actually learn how to use Nintex, and that would definitely be one of the biggest challenges I’ve had when working and starting at Elantis. When I first started, almost everything was Nintex related.
Andrea: So, it was a quick and steep learning curve, but you tackled it well and it sounds like with some dedication and focus, you were you able to learn it quickly. Now look at you, able to offer support on these tools! That’s excellent.
What would you say might be the top three things that you’ve learned throughout your IT career so far?
Mitchell: When you’re going into IT, one of the three things you would need is definitely a good head to be able to learn quickly. It’s something that can change very rapidly over a short period of time because if you don’t adapt with the environments that may change over time, you’re going to fall behind and you’re not going to know enough to be able to provide the help that somebody would need. The second thing that I would say, is one of the things that I learned when moving to an IT role, of course, is how difficult it is to actually get started in it. I think that is something that a lot of people will actually say, as well, when they first start getting into IT. A lot of people—a lot of employers—want to find somebody who already has experience but at the same time does not want to train somebody who is new. So, you really have to get lucky with getting your foot in that door. I have personal experience with that. The third most important thing I’ve learned is to get creative. Start thinking outside the box for problems you may encounter. Sometimes for the problem you have, the solution is not exactly straightforward or there is a better one than what is currently established. Those are three things I would say that I’ve learned when moving into an IT role.
Andrea: Well, that’s fantastic.
You mentioned earlier how it’s so important to stay on top of changing technologies, to know what’s coming, and to be able to react accordingly. How do you stay in the know? How do you stay on top of changes in technology? Are there particular resources you turn to, like websites or influencers? How do you stay on top of things?
Mitchell: How I am staying on top of things is to move along with the client itself. At Elantis, we have a variety of clients with all kinds of environments, all kinds of software that they all have set up. Since there is a great variety between the clients and how the environments are all set up, it is a little difficult, of course, to remind yourself of who is what, where, how, and whatnot. With just a great variety of clients, you’ll always be working on something different. Some of the knowledge could be transferred from point A to point B and then to point C. When one of our clients, of course, gets something new and they want help with that, then of course, we learn how to stay up to date with some of that technology by being presented with a new problem from our client and then having to solve that problem. So, we really stay up to date with that by solving the problems we are continuously presented with over time.
Andrea: That makes a lot of sense. It’s such a proactive way of learning, right? You’re learning on the job.
Mitchell: Definitely, nothing beats hands-on experience.
Andrea: It’s that constant openness to learning and knowing that what was the answer last week might be a different answer this week, right? Where if things change and, like you mentioned, the environments are different and so the requirements might be different, their needs might be different, as well. So that’s a great approach—to have that open mind in terms of problem solving and learning as those problems come our way.
I have a couple more questions for you, Mitchell. Who is your modern-day hero?
Mitchell: Would you believe me if I told you I do not really have a modern-day hero?
Andrea: I believe you. Is there anyone you look up to or who inspires you?
Mitchell: My father, of course.
Andrea: Oh, I love that. Tell me a little bit more about why he inspires you.
Mitchell: Well, part of the reason why he’s inspiring is also the reason why my family moved to Canada, right? Back in Holland when I was still young we, in a way, already had everything there. We had family, we had friends, we had a home, and he had his own business. My parents decided to give my sisters and I a better future. It was decided to give up what they had and to move to Canada. To start over again and just to give my sisters and I a better future. In a way, parents going out of their way to make sacrifices for their children is nothing short of inspiring.
Andrea: So inspiring. What an amazing story and, you know, they’ve helped pave the path for the life that you live here in Canada. So, thank you for sharing that. That’s really touching.
I have one more question. What’s next for you in your career? What do you hope to accomplish? It could be short-term, within the next three to five years, or beyond. What’s next for you, Mitchell?
Mitchell: Well simply put, to continue working at Elantis. I have no reason to move anywhere else. Everything I want to do is already here. So, I guess continue working at Elantis is the best answer I can give. I’ve not put any thought into going anywhere else, let me put it that way.
Andrea: That’s excellent. I’m sure there will be a lot of challenges and problems you can solve in the years to come.
Thank you so much for your time today, Mitchell. It’s been great to learn a little bit more about you and about your career. Thanks so much for being part of this.
Mitchell: Thank you for having me.
