What I Learned During my First Year Working for a Technology Company

“Where my reason, imagination or interest were not engaged, I would not or I could not learn.”

- Winston Churchill

It was on this week last year, that I finished up with the company I had been working with for several months. 2 weeks later I started my first official marketing job as part of the Marketing Graduate Programme. It was a complete step into the unknown for me, but I had always loved the technology industry. 

I started on the 4th of August, 2015. This was initially a 9 month programme which would allow me to gain experience in Field Marketing, Channel Marketing and Digital Marketing. When finishing my masters degree, I wanted to work with a company with a strong marketing organisation that I could learn from. This programme seemed to tick all of the boxes and meet my expectations of a good first role to learn about marketing to all routes to market. 

Over the past year I have learned and developed more than I would have thought. The software industry is a great place to work. You never know what each day will bring, but you do know it very rarely is the same. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to go outside my comfort zone and to actively be encouraged to do so. I was encouraged to engage with our Employee Resource Groups, given time to encourage teenagers to pursue careers in S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) while all the time learning about marketing to all routes to market.

My advice, looking back now, to anybody unsure or uncertain of their first step after college is to take a chance, go explore and try and make an impact with what you do. The technology industry and software industry is a great place to get involved in. When you enjoy what you want to do, you do it better and when you have fantastic people to work with and support you, you will do your very best. I learned something from each and every experience. Working with a multinational software company was one of the best decisions I could have made.