Hi, I'm Przemek and I'd like to tell you how I became a Business Developer at SKILL & CHILL.
For the previous eight years I had worked mainly in two professions: teaching and translation. I graduated in language studies and have documented fluency in two foreign languages — Arabic and English — so this career path was a natural choice. During that time I worked with many individual clients, providing translation services and one-to-one English lessons, as well as companies that most often hired me for training and translation.
During this period I began working with an IT company, SKILL & CHILL, delivering language training. The main goal was to prepare employees to communicate with international clients as part of the company's various initiatives. At first I had some concerns because I had very little professional contact with IT. My knowledge of programming and related areas was basically limited to computer games and general hardware knowledge. It was also a new way of working for me: until then I had managed and planned everything independently, whereas here I discussed lesson plans and topics with SKILL & CHILL's CVO, Łukasz. That made me more confident because I knew what to cover and how to approach it.
After the first few classes, I discovered that the SKILL & CHILL team was genuinely impressive — not only technically, but personally as well. Their attitude made my work easier and the classes developed into a kind of symbiosis: I shared language knowledge, and they taught me about the world of IT. With each lesson I learned something new while trying to turn that knowledge into activities that improved my students' language skills. And then March 2022 arrived...
SKILL & CHILL organized a team-building trip, and the management decided that, as the person running English classes, I should join too. I was delighted and brought my wife and one-year-old daughter, because during our lessons we had already got to know each other well and often shared funny stories from private life. That kind of “squad” made perfect sense 🙂 It was actually the first time in my life I had met in person with people I worked with. That was a big change from my previous routine, where breaks mainly meant family holidays and, of course, a day off on my birthday 😁. During the trip we talked a lot — finally face to face — and some conversations turned to business, how the company works and what it wants to achieve. I found the vision impressive, and the company's development plans became increasingly attractive to me from both a personal and professional perspective.
After returning from the trip, I had many opportunities to talk with SKILL & CHILL's CVO about the future. What initially seemed like casual conversations slowly developed into a model of cooperation that went far beyond language teaching. The timing was perfect. In my regular work I had started to feel a little burned out because of the long hours, hungry for new achievements and, above all, development that had become difficult due to lack of free time and limited opportunities for promotion. And that was exactly when the offer to become a Business Developer at SKILL & CHILL appeared. Perfect timing, right? If not now, then when?
But what exactly is a Business Developer? What are the responsibilities? Who does the role report to, and what must be done to create the expected value for the company? Those questions stayed with me after I received the offer. Łukasz, the CVO I've mentioned several times, prepared a list of requirements and responsibilities. I also did my own research, and a clearer picture of my future work slowly emerged. On 8 July I was officially introduced to the team as a new crew member, and on 11 July I officially started as a Business Developer. How did it work out in practice? Was my IT knowledge enough to find my place in the industry? What surprised me most, and what were my first adventures at SKILL & CHILL in the new role? That's a story for the next post 🙂
