PETOŠEVIĆ PEOPLE: Q&A with Biljana Acković

Based in our Belgrade office, HR Assistant Biljana Acković coordinates and executes administrative duties within the HR department and assists with HR projects, including recruitment and training. We asked Biljana about her work, her pastimes, the music she likes, and much more.

1. How did you start your career in HR?

   I was working in our marketing department for about two years when the position of HR Assistant opened up. I thought it would be a good change in my career, so I applied, and here I am!

2. What is the most challenging aspect of your work?

   Our HR department takes care of documentation for all our offices – this is a lot of material that needs to be prepared, printed, emailed, archived and followed up on.

3. What do you most enjoy doing at work?

   I love that feeling after successfully finishing a huge project and then just sitting down and proudly sipping coffee.

4. What would you be working in, if you weren’t working in HR?

   I am not sure… see question 12!

5. What was the first job you’ve ever had?

   I worked at a ticket office selling theater, concert and bus tour tickets.

6. What is your favorite thing to do when you are not working?

   If the weather is bad, I like making jam (apple with cinnamon and orange zest is my latest creation), reading or playing Yamb dice game with my boyfriend. During the spring and summer, I always feel like traveling and visiting new places.

7. What book did you read last?

   “The Agony and the Ecstasy”, a biographical novel about Michelangelo written by Irving Stone.

8. What is your favorite song/music at the moment?

   I recently found pictures my friends and I took at Zdravko Čolić’s concert (he is one of the biggest music stars in the Balkans) and that reminded me of what a great time we had, so I have been listening to Čolić these days.

9. What is your favorite dish of all time?

   My favorite meal is breakfast – toast with butter and orange jam and a cappuccino.

10. If you could meet anyone in the world, from the past or present, who would it be and why?

    I would love to meet the Queen of England – it would be nice to know what it is like to be a queen.

11. What was your favorite subject in school and why?

    I loved art history. We had a great teacher who taught us how to understand art. I even went to art classes despite not being that good at painting.

12. What did you want to be when growing up?

    In primary school I went to acting classes and, of course, I wanted to become an actress. When I was a little older, I wanted to open a perfume shop.

13. Tell us three things most people don’t know about you.

    I can write with both hands at the same time, I go to a dance school, and I am an Avon lady.

14. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?

    I would learn to sing, not like a crow, but like a nightingale.

15. What is your biggest frustration about the world around you?

    Hypocrisy and arrogance.

16. What is the most important thing you have learned in the last five years?

    I have learned to trust my instincts.

17. What do you wish you could have told yourself at age 13?

    You can study whatever you want and, girl, wear your retainer!

18. What cities/countries have you lived in?

    I have only lived in Belgrade, Serbia.

19. If you could live in another country of the 30+ countries where PETOŠEVIĆ operates, which would you pick and why?

    I would probably pick Slovenia – a well-organized country with such beautiful nature.

20. If someone came to your city for 24 hours, where would you take them?

    I hope my guest visits Belgrade during the summer, when the whole city smells of linden flowers and when people are outside, sitting in café gardens and chatting. We would have a cup of mocha coffee in Greenet Café. We would then go to Tašmajdan park, and maybe visit the National Museum or the Nikola Tesla Museum. We would go shopping in Knez Mihailova Street in the city center and then take a walk through Kalemegdan park. We could have lunch at one of the rafts on the Danube promenade. In the evening, we would have a drink at one of the many cafés in the Dorćol neighborhood, and then we would definitely go dancing on the terrace of the Zira hotel.