Getting to know datacenter employees: Ellinor Bergfeldt
Microsoft’s success depends on our people. We are proud to introduce some of the talented folks in your community who work in our global datacenters. Discover what inspired them to pursue a career in the tech industry, the different pathways they pursued, and what a day in the life of a datacenter employee looks like.
Introducing Ellinor
Datacenter Technician
Malmö, Sweden
Employee since 2020
Early days
Ellinor was born in 1997 and grew up in the suburbs in Malmö with an older brother. She tried a lot of different activities as a kid, such as tennis, soccer, basketball, and chess. When she got older, she loved to spend time with friends and play videogames.
Ellinor faced a lot of challenges growing up as her mom got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2007 and her dad died in 2013 after years of battling cancer. “These experiences helped me look at the world in a different way and not take anything for granted, and live life to its fullest.”
The path to technology
Ellinor stumbled upon the path of technology by accident. “My grades were terrible in junior high school so I could only choose between a handful of high schools / upper secondary schools. I ended up going to an electrician and networking school, where I fell in love with networking and computers.” Ellinor turned her grades around and graduated top of the class, eventually getting a job straight after school as a Fiber Optic Technician. “I didn’t think I had the skillset to work at Microsoft, but after talking to a Microsoft recruiter I found out that my current skillset was more than enough to get a job as a datacenter technician (DCT) at Microsoft.”
Superpowers
Ellinor’s superpowers are that she’s a quick adapter to changes and has a great capacity to retain new things. This allows her to quickly learn new concepts and techniques, which is super helpful when working as a DCT and facing new challenges and tasks every day.
A day in the life
“We usually start off with a team meeting at 8 AM where we go through our tasks for the day and any potentials risks or security concerns. After that I’ll grab my gear and get going.” One perk of being a DCT is not always knowing how your day is going to look. Sometimes there will be lots of break-fix tickets, sometimes there are new racks or devices to be installed, or cabling to be done. “My favorite tasks are deployments, it’s fun to get new gear and cabling installed, and it’s also rewarding as you can see the result of your work.”
Favorite childhood food
Ellinor’s favorite childhood food is her grandmother’s chicken and potatoes. “She would make a legendary sauce and I would be really disappointed if I came to visit her, and she served something else. I later found out that the recipe was super simple, so now it is a staple in my household.”
