Patrick Diaz | Communication and Interior Design

IKEA has been a household name for me growing up. Hearing about it on TV, in movies, and online made me more familiar with it. At first, I didn’t quite understand the whole IKEA concept but learned more about it in college when I found out they were opening a new store in the Philippines. As a Graphic Designer, before joining IKEA, I felt a little stuck so a friend told me to send in an application to IKEA. After a casual interview, that seemed more like a conversation with a friend than with a boss, I felt even more excited and motivated to work with IKEA. I got the job and my role gets me lots of freedom to be visually creative while sticking to the fundamental framework.

The learning part never stops here and the first few months involved a lot of training with my co-workers. My main role here is to create graphic communication in our store. It requires much thought and care – it should be functional, visually appealing, but never a distraction to customers. At times, I also get to work with other functions like Marketing and Learning & Development, where I get to learn more about the organization and team up with new people. I’m really looking forward to start working in our new beautiful store and getting customers excited about our range.

Preparing for our new store is fun. I’m currently working on revising the communications in the store and getting ready for the commercial build up. Having the responsibility of communicating to the millions of thrilled customers coming to the store is very rewarding. I’m really looking forward to everyone visiting us and feeling a connection to the IKEA brand. We will also have about 500 co-workers in the store and I can’t wait to welcome them too with inspirational messages.

I believe everything starts with Togetherness. Collaborating with people in my team brings out the best solutions, which is vital when working within my Com&In team and across multiple functions. Renew & Improve resonates with me as a person and what I want to deliver every day. We have a work environment where we’re allowed to make mistakes and this creates opportunities for finding solutions in unlikely places and making things even better.

Having a passion for Home Furnishing is necessary along with the willingness to understand and show empathy towards everyone in the organization. This way of working will make you a great fit for IKEA. Liking meatballs is a huge advantage too!