Rapid rise: What you can learn from startup employees who climbed the career ladder quickly

by Andreas Rekdal
August 18, 2016

Thanks to their emphasis on flexibility, fast growth and flattened hierarchies, tech companies are excellent places for climbing the ranks quickly.

But beyond being at the right company at the right time, rising in the ranks is also about spotting opportunities. To learn more about building successful careers in tech, we talked to three Chicago techies who climbed the ranks at their companies quickly. Here are their stories, as well as their advice for others who want to follow in their footsteps.

 

Matt Athanasiou went from customer service rep to creative director

Rocketmiles Creative Director Matt Athanasiou got his start with the company in late 2013 as one of its first two customer experience representatives, fielding questions from customers via email and on the phone. But drawing on his experience freelancing as a social media manager, he seized every opportunity he got to weigh in on the company’s marketing materials and strategies.

Taking note of his interest and talents, Athanasiou’s supervisors quickly moved him to a social media manager role, where he helped design the #vacationfaster social media campaign that won Rocketmiles a Skiftie award before he was promoted to marketing manager.

Athanasiou stepped into his current role as creative director of partnership marketing at the beginning of 2015, less than a year and a half after joining Rocketmiles. Currently, he works with the company’s partners to develop and test marketing assets, in addition to advising its marketers on best practices and ensuring proper brand representation.

“Growth has been the theme since day one,” said Athanasiou. “Learning new skills and testing new methods has always been encouraged. It ensures we never become stagnant — or boring — and constantly opens opportunities.”

For other startup employees looking to climb the ranks at their companies, Athanasiou recommends getting to understand every part of the business.

“Know the team,” he said. “Ask questions about what’s happening in every department. Everyone is working to propel the company forward, so understanding how developers, marketers, and customer loyalty agents are finding success or trying to improve will influence your current projects and ideas for future ones.”

Global partnerships SVP Bart Welch said Rocketmiles has seen a number of its customer loyalty representatives rise to leadership positions within the team.

"We recruit for every role with the intent of developing everyone into leaders,” Welch said. “Matt's career progression to Creative Director is a clear example of the strategy paying off for himself personally and for our company."

 

 

 

Product Manager Annie Huebner moved to the tech side without prior experience

Graduating from Lake Forest College with a degree in communications and social sciences, Annie Huebner got her start at bswift as a benefits analyst in 2008, becoming an account manager in 2010. From there she took a turn for the techier, taking on an associate product manager role. In 2013 she became product manager for the team working on bswift’s decision support tool “Ask Emma,” which helps employees pick the best benefits for them, before moving on to manage enrollment projects in enrollment in 2015.

“It has been challenging at times, but I really enjoy product management so it was easy to embrace the challenge,” said Huebner. “The parts of my job I loved the most when I was in client services was troubleshooting issues and coming up with creative workarounds to client needs — which is a lot of what PM is.”

Though she came to the job without a tech background, Hubner said relationships with her colleagues were crucial to learning the ropes on that side of the house.

“Being able to learn from other PMs and our developers has helped me grow a ton, as well as learning from my mistakes,” she said. “I think it took me a few projects to gain confidence and I learned the best way to gain confidence was to take on projects that seemed intimidating and out of my comfort zone. The coolest thing is to be able to hear from clients that a project you worked on made their lives easier.”

To others hoping to break into tech, Huebner’s main piece of advice is to be bold.

“Don’t let your major or background hold you back. When I was first asked to join product management, I didn’t think I was qualified because I lacked a tech background,” she said. “There are so many online resources out there to help you learn the tech side. If you have a passion for problem solving and are the kind of person who doesn’t give up until they have exhausted every avenue when trying to find a solution, this is the right kind of industry.”

 

 

 

Greg Blew went from consultant to chief design officer and VP of product management

A longtime professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Greg Blew was hired as a consultant in Emmi’s early days to create a demo and a couple of programs. The company brought Blew on as a full-time illustrator and animator, eventually putting him in charge of the entire creative team.

As Emmi kept growing, so did Blew’s team. Today he oversees the company’s product management and production teams, as well as the marketing department.

“When I came to Emmi, I wanted a role where I could influence and help shape the way we operated,” said Blew. “Throughout my time here, I’ve been able to help identify areas for growth, and in doing so, take on new responsibilities. It’s really given me the opportunity to pursue my interests, and also learn and grow at the same time.”

Like bswift’s Annie Huebner, his main piece of advice to others hoping to climb the ranks is to not be too timid about taking on brand new challenges.

“The advice I most often give people is that they shouldn’t limit themselves based on their degree or existing job,” said Blew. “I believe people can find success and fulfillment when they pursue or create the opportunities that are interesting to them, using their job or degree as a springboard, not as a constraint.”

 

Images via featured companies.

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