What was your first role in the tech industry, and how did it shape your journey 🚐

I applied for a software developer internship at one of the more prominent startups in Austria back then. I didn't really think that i would get the position, but they were on a hiring spree, so they hired me as a junior backend developer instead. Those were great times! I learned an immense amount, made some good friends and my current business partner had started 2 weeks before me at the same company. Unfortunately the company didn't make it, but i'm insanely grateful for the mentoring i got there, without them i wouldn't be where i am now.

Actually, as an intern at the beginning of his career, my journey started as a content writer. Then I became a website editor at Marketing Birds. After this process, I met Contentrain. After learning the necessary information about the ecosystem, I started to work as an intern in the field of "marketing" at Contentrain.

Quality Assurance Engineer for a year right after I graduated. Let’s just say I was happy to get laid off 😂.

Moving from a clinical domain (almost twenty years of combined clinical and academic practice), my first experience was an internship and master thesis researcher in an e-prescription health IT firm. I worked on analysing their UI, workflows and a drug allergy database. It was a rewarding experience for both ends and I am ever thankful to this firm. Thanks @Deniz for this question and for opening up a can of nostalgic thoughts :)

I had always been a Tech Enthusiast. But I am from a Non-Tech Background, I broke into tech with my Product Internship turning into an Associate Product Manager Role. I'm interested in knowing how you made the switch from a Recruiter to a Marketer. Sounds like an interesting story! @ako61142833

I was 19 years old, created the first 2 e-commerce professionally and for a country store and working in-house as an e-commerce specialist and all doer. I was doing ADV, social management, customer care, and taking care of orders and product research. Basically everything 😂

Started as a junior dev, then took the startup plunge. Taught me a lot about resilience and the need for constant learning.

At some point, it became clear that I had much more chances to prove myself in the IT industry: my first role - project manager.

Fun question. I started out in cold call sales at Yelp which was a brutal introduction to the business world, but it taught me a ton of valuable things that have served me well throughout my career. Through putting in the 10,000+ cold calls there, I developed the ability to sell, build relationships, and assess the needs of a wide variety of businesses. I also saw firsthand how rare it is to find genuinely hard-working people, and how quickly you can grow in a field if you are such a person. As I transitioned into a copy/content writer, I was able to combine early-career skills I learned with my education/passion for writing to build a successful freelance brand and serve a ton of great clients worldwide. Question for you Deniz - of the skills that you learned in IT recruiting, which have been most useful in your role as a marketer? (and do you have a recommendation for a book or blog post that would help me get a foundational understanding of those skills?)

Hey everyone! 🌟 As a frontend developer at Contentrain, my tech journey began with a passion for creating captivating user experiences. Building the interface for Contentrain 2.0 has been an incredible learning experience and has shaped my career path in ways I couldn't have imagined. I love being part of this innovative team and can't wait for you all to see what we've created! 🚀 #frontenddeveloper #Contentrain2.0 #TechJourney

I have always been a founder, so I can’t even imagine myself in any other role.

I started at Synap, a tech start-up, just over 3 years ago as a digital marketing apprentice after graduating from Uni with a Sports & Exercise Science Degree (a change of pace I know). I've been working there ever since take on projects in marketing, UX/UI design and now product management. I'm constantly learning and trying to adapt with the growth of the company. Every day is a school day!

Started coding at the age of 11, good old assembler on C64 and later Amiga. Then studied law (of all things), hated it, took a job for Berlitz (the language school) in Germany to run their IT. They had an old Pentium 133 MHz server running Novell 4.0. I converted all of that into a proper server infrastructure. Now, 22 years later, I'm trying to productize my consulting business...

My first role in the tech industry was actually as a developer, and it had a profound impact on my journey with ProApp. Working hands-on in development allowed me to understand the intricacies of building a powerful edtech platform like ours. It also taught me the importance of user-centric design and how technology can truly transform education. By the way, speaking of edtech, we just launched our application ProApp on Product Hunt today! It's an exciting platform that helps you learn design in an interactive and engaging way. If you're interested in checking it out, here's the link: (https://www.producthunt.com/prod...)

Internship in marketing in b2b SaaS company, followed by full-time position in marketing, then as sales representative and account management, which led to current role, product manager. As a young curious freshman with non-IT background, I find now these not-so-IT roles crucially shaped my current skills and knowledge, since m&s positions pushed me to go far with understanding people needs and emotions, although they're often neglected in b2b IT industry.

Started of as Market research analyst. This helped me a lot during my Entrepreneurial phase.

I started in sales and then moved over to product! I have found quite a few parallels between the two roles as the two seek to understand and solve for pain points from users. The drive to help solve and resolve for pain points is really key and keeps me going every day!

It all started from me taking the role and responsibility of web development in the first business I co-founded. Building websites, attracting hundreds of customers cemented my fascination with design and technology and now I am working as a product designer in an amazing startup from Pakistan. 😃🙌 Every step of this journey was worth it and I am so grateful to have chosen this career! This is just the beginning though, there's a lot more to come...

Hey Deniz! Fun question. I was working as a mid-level graphic designer before joining GoFundMe as a junior product designer back in 2015. The move to the US from Canada, and subsequent move to San Francisco was super important for my growth and mentorship. Since GoFundMe, I joined Lyft and am now drawing on my past experiences to launch an app of my own.