2020 Wrapped: the 4 things I’ve learned after working one year in tech (as a former non-tech)

At the end of 2019, I started working in a tech start-up as a Product Research Manager. My background was not very "techy". In my previous role I was an Insights Manager for 3 years in a medium size agency in Mexico City – and staring a new role in a tech start-up seemed like a whole new adventure.

Little did I know that 2020 would be a year with such different challenges: I did not only need to develop a new set of skills that my role demanded, I also had to do it through Zoom calls. In full honesty, it wasn’t easy.

However, this year also brought some amazing learnings and I wanted to share some of them in case someone out there needs some insight or inspiration to pursue a career in tech.

No. 1 Control your inner perfectionist

My team holds the saying “Progress over Perfection” as a mantra – and when I first joined, I struggled to grasp why a company would aim for something less than perfection.

Then, I understood that when you work in the PaaS (Platform as a Service) industry your product is never perfect… like EVER. Technology is flawed by nature: your product is alive and it should change constantly to generate wider adoption and growth. And if you got a great product, this optimisation cycle might never end!

And while I was aware of this before, the experience of working with an always-changing product proved to be very different to my previous project-based role. As a perfectionist, it was very easy to open and close work-streams, keeping tight control on the objectives I wanted to achieve before moving on to a totally different project.

The reality is that (usually) you don't need to obsess over certain flaws in your product! Nevertheless, it is critical to evaluate which features you need to scale to generate value. Which leads to my second learning…

No. 2 Learn to listen (really listen)

Active listening is a core skill to architect product growth. It is a practice that comprises both a desire to comprehend as well as to offer support to your customer – and in the end, this allows you to capture learnings while generating engagement.

Listening is the first step to achieve customer centricity. When you learn from your customers you can act on their feedback to achieve more powerful, more intuitive, and even more affordable solutions. Understanding how your customer perceive your product and what features give them the most value will allow you to get the perfect product positioning.

However, customer centricity is not a one-man-job: corporate culture matters. Your whole company needs to embrace it as a core value (for example, at Zappi – the company I work for – one of our values is Incisive Listening), otherwise learning will become an ad hoc and sporadic takeaway.

A customer centric culture will arm you with tools, channels and processes that will help you capture valuable insight from your customers! So identify them and make the best use out of them.

No. 3 Use your time wisely

The tech industry moves so fast, and this means that your agenda can be quite frantic. Emails, text messages and meetings back-to-back: day-to-day work can consume all your energy. For this reason, being organised with your time will be key to success. Here are some pro-tips that I’ve learned:

• Prioritise the work-streams that are immediately related to the growth initiatives that have been linked to the key objectives of the business. This will help you select the meetings you attend, for example.

• Block some time every week to do the work you need to do – this will help you to create a rhythm that will make you more effective.

• Try to save time to engage in training and independent learning.

• And finally, spend some quality time off-screen (easier said than done). But honestly, this time is where you can truly get perspective and come up with your best ideas.

No. 4 Never be afraid to speak-up (or to ask questions)

Tech companies are super diverse, and people have really different backgrounds – also, you will face conversations with very smart people (very, very smart people). All this combined can make an outsider to feel really overwhelmed. In my case, for the first months I developed a huge case of imposter syndrome that often prevented me to speak up my mind.

As I got more comfortable with my position and my team, I could understand how I could bring the most value. However, if you feel out of place, find ways to get your hands dirty with tech (the good old trick of "learning by doing" never fails).

Also, ask questions and don't be afraid to ask for help. Sometimes, ask questions even when you think you know the answer: this will help you to understand the perspective of other people with different skillsets and backgrounds.

Are you interested in transitioning to the tech industry, but you are worried about not having a tech background? Don’t worry about that: remember that soft skills are also on demand. And while it can be overwhelming at the beginning, keep an open mind throughout the learning curve. With time you can be intentional, fearless and playful!