Always connected: Kübra Seker Works as a Female Service Engineer in Turkey

Plenty of fresh air, long distances and electrical engineering expertise: Kübra Seker* is the first female field service engineer who works for SMA in Turkey. In this interview, she tells us how she joined our team, what she enjoys about it and where she can apply her skills particularly well.

How did it all start?

I applied for a job because I absolutely wanted to be part of the “renewable energy generation.” My master’s degree in electrical engineering and electronics completed in summer 2015 was an advantage for me here. I applied not long after I had quit my job at the university. After the job interviews, I soon received an acceptance letter and right after that I traveled to Niestetal to take part in training courses on large central inverters. I have now been part of the global SMA team since the end of last year.

Kübra during commissioning of a Sunny Central 800CP-XT central inverter

What exactly does your work involve?

I am responsible for commissioning Sunny Central inverters, monitoring them and replacing components, for performing software and firmware updates so that the inverters are always up to date, and for troubleshooting and performing maintenance work. This also includes diagnosing errors via remote monitoring and documenting error messages. And then there’s customer support on the phone and answering questions by e-mail. In addition, I provide service training for our customers and write monthly service reports.

Do you enjoy your work? Do you get along well as the only woman?

Yes, very well in fact. One thing I am good at and enjoy is working carefully and systematically. This is important, for example, to ensure that no details are forgotten during commissioning and that everything is documented carefully. I find it interesting to travel around and get to know different regions of the country. I constantly have contact with our customers and I enjoy this dialogue. I think that women have a special talent for this. We sometimes find it easier to find the right words, particularly when it comes to discussing something uncomfortable. I hope that there will be more women in my field of work in the future.

There’s a life outside work, too. How do you spend your free time?

I play tennis. Whenever I have the time and opportunity, I play a round or two, and I like meeting new people there. In general, I am very curious, about people and also, for example, about developments and new technologies in photovoltaics. I read a lot about these topics. But I also find literature interesting, and another thing that particularly inspires me is foreign languages. I have just started teaching myself Arabic grammar.

Thank you for the interview, Kübra, and good luck with learning Arabic.

Visit our Turkish coworkers at Solarex İstanbul 2016 from April 7 to 9 at Booth E01 in Hall 9

*Kuebra Seker is working for SMA’s Service Partner in Turkey DEKOM TELEKOMÜNIKASYON A.Ş.