This month's star is Karla Mate

Every month we will introduce you to a colleague. This month's star is Karla Mate. She joined asknet in February 2015 and currently works as a Strategic Project Manager.

What exactly do you do at Signpost?

I'm a Strategic Project Manager in the team of David Vercauteren and I work on various projects for the group. Currently, I'm focused on achieving the global quality management certification of ISO9001. Another significant project I'm involved in is for RWTH Aachen, where we're developing a new shop generation (asknet 2.0 platform). This involves weekly updates with the client, tracking milestones, and general project management tasks. The project is a mix of a deployment platform (focusing on students installing the software) and a procurement platform (connecting cost centers, internal approvals, software purchases, etc.). For the next year this is a major project for me and Academic Software as it will be a lighthouse project for softwareshops for all other universities.

Additionally, I'm working on a project for private universities, focusing on our go-to-market approach. This way, sales have an overview of the top universities and are well-prepared to make the customer an attractive offer, rather than relying on cold calling.  

What does your day look like?

My day typically starts with some focus time, where I identify the priorities and prepare for the meetings of the day. I have a lot of meetings to attend and tasks to follow up on. My work is a mix of strategic matters and international collaboration with people, which is something I really like. 

As a Project Manager, I spend a lot of time using ClickUp, our project management system, which gives me a full overview of all tasks and helps with internal and external collaboration. 

Being a Project Manager feels natural for me. During my previous job as Head of Sales for asknet, I was used to managing multiple projects at the same time. Although I'm no longer in a management role, I feel that I bring value to the company. Besides that, I enjoy working on various ongoing projects and collaborating with colleagues. 

How did you end up working at Signpost?

During the summer of 2024, asknet merged with Academic Software. I've been working for Asknet for almost 10 years. The last couple of months were quite intense, but Asknet and Academic Software share the same spirit and vision, so I'm very happy that we joined forces. I gained a lot of valuable learnings from that experience.

What are your interests besides work?

I have many interests :-) I love spending time in nature, hiking weekly in places like the Black Forest and the wine fields in Germany. Traveling is also a passion of mine; my goal is to visit a new country every year. Next week, we're going to Scotland. Besides that, I like to work on our house in Italy, enjoy Latin dance, pilates, reading, cooking, meeting with friends and family, and making creative DIY projects. Learning and being in contact with new things and adventures is a constant theme in my life. For example, I'm currently learning Italian. 

You can imagine that I'm never bored :-)