From our award-winning buyer help crew to the engineers who maintain our platform and companies quick and performant, every one in every of WP Engine’s greater than 1,000 staff is important to fulfilling our mission to energy confidence on-line.
We take delight in our crew’s experience, whether or not in technical troubleshooting for WordPress websites, driving relentless innovation throughout our absolutely managed internet hosting platform, or offering distinctive help for our company companions.
On this ongoing sequence, we converse with WP Engine’s consultants to be taught extra about their roles, areas of experience, and contributions to the corporate’s success.
On this interview, we converse with Raphaela Kelly, aka Rapha. She’s a senior technical help agent primarily based in Galway, Eire.
Say hi there to Rapha!
Rapha is a gamer who enjoys life and immersive simulation video games like Stardew Valley, The Sims, and Animal Crossing. She’s additionally a significant member of WP Engine Eire.
Initially from Espírito Santo, Brazil, Rapha joined a pupil change program to Europe in 2019, the place she met an Irishman who would later grow to be her husband. After some worldwide adjustments in residence—together with a few years again residence in Brazil and a fast stint in Portugal—she formally moved to Eire in 2021, and utilized at WP Engine shortly after.
“I had been very lively within the open-source neighborhood again in Espírito Santo, so WordPress was already acquainted to me,” Rapha says.
“Whereas researching potential jobs, I used to be pleasantly stunned to be taught that WP Engine is extremely rated by Nice Locations to Work as effectively.”
When she’s not working or gaming, Rapha additionally enjoys spending time outside or taking within the metropolis.
“I like taking a great stroll. Dwelling in Eire, it’s laborious to not—the place is completely beautiful,” she says.
“I dwell in Galway. I like that it isn’t a really large metropolis, nevertheless it’s very lively. Regardless of the climate, there may be all the time one thing taking place in Galway, and strolling down Store Road all the time offers a little bit of leisure.”
Despite the fact that she lives simply over an hour from the WP Engine Eire workplace in Limerick, she nonetheless visits the bustling hub to say hi there.
“Everybody may be very heat and supportive. We now have enjoyable collectively, and going to the workplace is all the time nice craic,” says Rapha.
“Though I work principally remotely, I make some extent of going to the workplace after I can to attach with folks.”
Rapha’s profession journey
Earlier than becoming a member of WP Engine, Rapha had loads of technical expertise, together with a background working with a number of applied sciences WP Engine integrates into our present platform configuration.
“I had labored for Cloudflare beforehand, which made WP Engine much more interesting to me,” says Rapha.
“Working with Linux, WordPress, and Cloudflare companies makes me really feel proper at residence.”
Now, she offers knowledgeable recommendation to our clients as a member of our help crew. As a senior technical help agent, her position typically includes dealing with extra complicated points.
“I believe my expertise working with open-source companies, networks, and Cloudflare helps me perceive issues extra simply, making me one of many go-to folks for uncommon instances,” she says.
“It additionally helps that I like a little bit of sleuthing. If there’s one thing I don’t know but, I’ll go be taught it to assist our clients.”
When requested what recommendation she would give to somebody beginning out on a profession journey just like hers, Rapha’s recommendation mirrored that of her colleague, Julio.
“Ask questions. Getting into any IT subject will be difficult, particularly should you didn’t begin in IT,” she says.
“Some persons are afraid to ask questions, however nobody can know every thing. Working in IT is a continuing studying course of, and asking for assist is likely one of the finest methods to get the grasp of issues.”
Phrases of knowledge: Concentrate on discovering options
One of the difficult points of Rapha’s position is not only the complexity of the problems she is tasked with fixing but additionally the extent of frustration that always accompanies this complexity.
“The instances I work on are technically difficult, however they’re additionally typically difficult on a social degree. It’s not simple to refocus a buyer on resolving the issue slightly than letting them dwell on their frustration,” she says.
“I consider I’m an empathetic individual, and I do my finest to place myself within the buyer’s footwear day by day.”
Advanced points are sometimes those most rife with alternatives to be taught, and Rapha makes use of these moments to hone her personal expertise—each from a technical and interpersonal perspective.
“We now have such quite a lot of clients, and I be taught rather a lot from working with them to know their particular wants and conditions,” she says.
“There’s normally a mixture of applied sciences concerned, which actually retains me on my toes. And since WP Engine can be always altering and adapting to extra fashionable applied sciences, I be taught rather a lot from our engineering groups as effectively.”
Even throughout probably the most difficult instances, when tensions are excessive and it’s simple to really feel defeated, Rapha stays targeted on discovering options and remaining constructive.
“Don’t take it personally. If a buyer is upset with a problem, our focus must be on resolving it,” she mentioned.
“It’s comprehensible to really feel pissed off by an issue—I really feel it myself. But it surely’s not private, so we have to empathize and never let that frustration have an effect on our problem-solving.”
Powered by folks
WP Engine is powered by folks identical to Rapha who work across the clock to optimize our platform and options to supply the absolute best digital experiences on WordPress.
When requested to determine her favourite facet of her job at WP Engine, her reply wasn’t all too shocking.
“The folks—each our staff and our clients. We now have a really numerous workforce and buyer base, and I like that. Everybody has one thing distinctive about them, and I get pleasure from discovering alternatives to attach with folks.”
Wish to discover out extra about what it’s prefer to work at WP Engine? Go to our careers web site to see the roles we presently have open and take a look at our weblog for extra details about all the good individuals who work right here!
