Throughout 2023, we’ve been shining a spotlight on our core values, including celebrating ApplyBoardians who go above and beyond to embody them through our ongoing video series, Core Values in Action. Before this year and Core Values in Action comes to a close, let’s take one more look at the remarkable team members we’ve featured. Keep reading and watch the 2023 highlights video below to learn what our core values truly mean to them and how they go above and beyond to model these values every day!
Caring About Each Other: Elias Srouji, Sales Training Specialist (Former ApplyBoardian)
In his tenure with ApplyBoard, Elias, a committed member of the Sales Enablement Team, also led planning for the company’s annual Pride Month celebrations, focusing on inclusivity and education. To Elias, “Caring About Each Other is ensuring we celebrate our differences and recognize our own unique attributes and skills.” This stems from his belief that “everyone should be able to feel like they belong and are included, which also, ultimately, makes us a better team to work with as a whole, as an entire company, to achieve success.”
Making Work Fun: Ankit Agarwal, Senior Manager, Application Journey
Ankit ensures smooth application processing at ApplyBoard while maintaining cross-functional relationships that help to ensure customer satisfaction. He excels at organizing company events and fostering a close-knit work environment, committing to Making Work Fun.
Despite a dispersed team, Ankit has built a collaborative atmosphere, encouraging outings and team lunches for motivation. Ankit reflects on his approach, stating, “beyond organizing events myself, I encourage my teams to plan outings and team lunches just to ensure that they’re motivated and able to keep the workspace fun.”
Delivering an A+ Customer Experience: Kara Zhang, Senior International Recruitment Manager, and Ian McRae, Partner Relations Manager
This year, we’ve celebrated two team members who personify Delivering an A+ Customer Experience: Kara and Ian.
Kara’s days typically include following up with her applications to ensure there’s no missing information, and that her recruitment partners are aware of any changes in their students’ applications. To Kara, “Delivering an A+ Customer Experience means building a strong relationship with my customers … It means valuing my customers’ feedback, listening to their inquiries, taking pride in my work, and ensuring that every aspect of the application process is handled with professionalism and attention to detail.”
Ian manages ApplyBoard’s partnerships with Ontario colleges. When asked what this value means to him, Ian shared that “it’s all about going above and beyond expectations.” He added that “it’s about delivering a solution that actually works, in a way that’s comprehensive and professional.” Ultimately, to Ian, “in the context of working with our school partners, Delivering A+ Customer Experience means solving problems, but also adding a strategic perspective in order to be better positioned for success in the future.”
Taking Ownership: Caitlin Quigley, Account Receivable Analyst
As an Accounts Receivable Analyst, Caitlin manages the financial transactions in the recruitment partner e-Wallet. To her, Taking Ownership means “taking initiative and not waiting for others. It means not being afraid to fail. Maybe you don’t have the ability to make big changes yourself, but present your ideas, big or small, to those who can. And seize all of the learning opportunities that are presented to you!”
Caitlin is proactive, and makes a conscious effort to anticipate roadblocks so that she’s in a suitable position to respond if need be.
Innovating and Improving: Haroon Rashid, Team Lead, IT Service Desk India
Haroon started with ApplyBoard as an IT Analyst, and more recently became the Team Lead of our IT ServiceDesk in India. Haroon truly sees the value in showing up curious and digging deeper. He has taken ownership of Innovating and Improving the IT ServiceDesk’s policies and procedures, and often investigates areas where the team sees an increased amount of support requests.
“Ultimately,” Haroon says, “these efforts lead to increased efficiency, improved issue resolution, and enhanced collaboration within the team.”
Check out our ApplyBoardian Q&A featuring Senior Counsel and former international student Dan Cira.
Helping Students Achieve Success: Nadine Murray, Associate Manager – Application Journey
As an associate manager on the Application Journey Team, Nadine helps the students ApplyBoard works with to optimize their chances of a successful enrollment. For Nadine, Helping Students Achieve Success means “keeping the student front of mind with everything that you’re doing … remembering that for every application and all the work we’re doing in a day, it’s always leading to help a student.”
Her guiding principle of student-centric decision-making helps to ensure each choice Nadine or her team members make is the right one for that student. This commitment also directs her team’s continuous improvement. Whether processing more applications than the day before, cultivating strong relationships with academic institutions, or promptly responding to queries, their every action is purposeful.
Thank you to each and every ApplyBoardian featured in this series! Your commitment to breaking down barriers to education is commendable, and we’re privileged to have you working toward shaping a brighter future with us. Here’s to continued success in our mission to Educate the World in 2024!
Thinking about becoming an ApplyBoardian? Take a peek at our open roles on the ApplyBoard Careers page.
