Finding Her Groove at Splunk

Most of us have taken an online career assessment once or twice, just to see what it says. For Anna Walkowiak, the results of that assessment ended up being a game-changer. “It came out that I have 94% natural skills to work in cybersecurity. So I said, okay, let's check it out. I think it was a really good match, because after working a year with Splunk, I see that it's my natural environment.”

Anna is a customer trust analyst in our Krakow, Poland office. She’s got the attitude of a life-long learner, eager and hungry to experience new things. That manifests in many ways for Anna: trying different dance styles, taking aerial classes, practicing one of the many languages she’s learned in her travels or taking cybersecurity courses to enhance her knowledge.

Finding flexibility

A major reason that working at Splunk has been a great fit for Anna is that the team provides the flexibility for her to do all of these things. Work-life balance is important to her, and there’s never a question from Splunkers of why she’d want to spend time doing these things. Anna shared, “People want to learn, so no one would question that I'm doing this and no one would say, oh, you're doing too much, you spend too much time exercising or something. No, people encourage you.”

Not only that, but she has the ability to work from the office or remotely as it works best for her schedule. Some days, she may need a quiet space to get work done. Other times, she might want to be in the office to collaborate and brainstorm. This is really critical for her as she starts her management in cybersecurity postgraduate studies in Warsaw. She has the flexibility to get to Warsaw a day before her class, so that she doesn’t have to wake up at 4 am the day of. “I could just go a day earlier, prepare myself, have a good sleep and go to my classes,” she said.

Putting people first

Another important aspect that’s enabling Anna to continue learning and trying new things is the collaborative, open mindset of Splunkers. “If you don't have expertise in some area, you can ask and people are really willing to help.” After expressing an interest in learning Python to some Splunkers, they not only pointed her in the direction of some courses, but also offered their help if she needed it. “That's amazing because it's not like you have only the classes,” she said, “you have people who are really willing to help.”

That mindset not only helps Anna to develop new skills, but also helps the whole team work better together. According to Anna, “We have a lot of fun organizing events and having opportunities to work on different projects together, not only within your team, but across teams.” It’s not just seen as a check-box item – Splunkers in Krakow are genuinely excited at the chance to work cross-functionally.

What makes a great Splunker

Our Krakow office recently celebrated reaching 500 Splunkers, and we’re not slowing down growth! Anna emphasized how important it is for anyone joining the team to share the open, collaborative mindset they’ve established. “Sometimes you work solo, but it’s important to have the mindset that you want to join something bigger,” she said. “Sometimes you can’t do it on your own.”

Another important factor? Passion. “When you’re passionate about what you do, it gives you an extra benefit because you just enjoy working,” Anna believes. And for Splunkers, that passion often extends outside of work walls. She notices that, “having passions out of work help you to be more creative.”

If you think Splunk sounds like a good fit for you, we’d love to hear from you! Get to know more about the Krakow team and find open roles at splunk.com/krakow.