A Day in the Life: Meet Mihai, Business Development Representative at Criteo

Originally from Romania, Mihai has joined Criteo a year ago after deciding to leave London for sunny Barcelona - a city that allowed him to follow his active lifestyle whilst growing professionally and making friends from all over the world.

6:30 am

My alarm goes off - against all recommendations for a productive morning first thing I do is check Instagram and then my diary for the day to see what calls I have planned ahead.

I get out of bed and have a quick bite and then put my running shoes on.

7:15 am

I start running – heading to Barceloneta beach, running through port Vell, admiring the nice boats and yachts and enjoying the morning sun next to the sea. I really enjoy being active first thing in the morning, it gives me energy for the day and also a sense of accomplishment so I know I’ve started the day right.

8:30 am

I’m now back home – quick shower and prepare breakfast and coffee. I like to enjoy this from my balcony watching the clear sky.

9:00-10:00am

Morning meetings time – as a Business Development Representative I’m part of two amazing teams: the multinational BDR team and also the forever dynamic UK Account Executive team. The BDR team is a source of inspiration for me. It’s a pleasure to see their level of enthusiasm right from the morning, which gives me loads of energy to go and generate new business for the UK AE team.

Being part of two teams is amazing – there’s so many cultures and personalities. I’m Romanian and I’ve never thought I’d be working with people from Spain, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Serbia, Sweden, France, Ireland and England. Having such a diverse team really helps bring different points of view to the table – we always share best practices and learn from each other.

10:00- 1:00pm

This is where the magic happens – I’ll attend any client zoom calls I’ve booked in the days before. During the call I understand the client’s needs and how Criteo can elevate their digital strategy. This time is also where all the outreach is happening – I work my own pipeline but also accounts that the Sales team have passed over for me to open conversations.

Structure is very important in the life of a BDR – I need to have the right message at the right time for the right eyes, which takes a lot of tries and failed attempts. You also need a big bucket of positive attitude and perseverance. This is what helped me achieve BDR top performer in my first quarter and also be awarded Rookie Of The Year 2019. (picture below is from BDR top performer. I don’t have a picture from Rookie Of The Year ☹ )

1:00-2:00pm

Lunch time – I don’t necessarily have strict lunch breaks as we’re able to have a flexy day. There’s a big culture build around trust, so as long as you’re doing your job well, you’ve earned the right to structure your day as you please. So most lunches I like to relax, call my family in Romania or go for a swim.

2:00- 5:00pm

Activity is king – Rejections are a big part of any BDR Job, so in order for me to be able to hit my targets I need to make sure I reach out to as many relevant people as possible. Weather that’s through phone, emails, LinkedIn, zoom etc. I just have to start those conversations and discover areas in which Criteo can add value my prospects. We could help them increase qualified traffic, engage with their lapsed audience, promote their new app, help build customer loyalty and many more ways. This is also the time where I catch up with Criteos from other departments and other offices like Boston as we’re working together on the new Self Registration platform. An exciting project where we give our clients the opportunity to build campaigns by themselves from start to finish.

5:00-6:00pm

Need to follow up – this is where I follow up with all the prospects I’ve talked through the day, I make sure my calendar and my Account Executive’s calendar is up to date.

6:00-9:00pm

My time – I see friends for dinner, cycle, walk around the city, cook, play football, do chores or just watch some Netflix.

9:00-10:00pm

Enjoy the sunset from my terrace and then it’s time for bed.

I’ve been in Barcelona for almost two years now and with Criteo for one year, but this year has been for sure the best one so far. I’ve been amazed by the growing opportunities that are proposed internally to create my own path at Criteo. As I’m writing this I’m in the middle of the process of progressing in my career to the Account Executive position so I’m very excited about that. For me Criteo has been a massive game changer when it comes to my both my professional and personal experience in Barcelona. Sign up to the talent community network and feel free to reach out on LinkedIn as well – hope to see you at Criteo soon!