Journey from Political Science Graduate to Cloud Architecture Engineer

Ted, graduated from the Department of Political Science at National Taiwan University and now serves as the Pre-sales Architecture Manager at HigherCloud. Before becoming an engineer at HigherCloud, he was eager to explore and challenge himself, refusing to limit his career opportunities. His job-seeking experiences were diverse, but he eventually discovered his interest in product-related work. It seemed as though fate led him to the role of Product Manager (PM) at a cloud company, opening the door for him to enter the unfamiliar field of the cloud industry. Beginning his cloud career as a PM, Ted frequently wrote technical documents in this role, which exposed him to a wealth of technical knowledge and laid the foundation for his cloud expertise. A year later, after daring to try, he transitioned to a sales role. Eventually, through serendipity, he joined HigherCloud and took on the role of a special assistant.

Reflecting on his early days at HigherCloud, Ted recalled that the company was still in its infancy, and he was primarily responsible for laying the company's foundation and solving various challenges. When asked why he chose to join a startup company, Ted smiled and said, "It's precisely because it's a startup that I'm more interested in it. Working in a startup is like building a thatched hut in a jungle, where you can create your own cultural style from scratch and unleash your potential. This thatched hut gradually turned into a solid brick house with the help of colleagues who joined later. Each brick represents the effort of each team member, which is the most attractive aspect to me." Within six months of joining HigherCloud and completing his special assistant tasks, Ted, at the invitation of General Manager Hanson Chen, decided to give himself a breakthrough opportunity. He resolutely turned towards the technical field and became an engineer at HigherCloud.

As a novice at first, Ted approached his work with a positive and proactive attitude, undertaking a significant amount of learning. Coming from a non-engineering background, he shared with us that there were indeed painful moments during the process. However, with time, continuous efforts to improve and self-demand, his technical skills matured, his interest in work grew, and he gained more insights. His mindset shifted from simple learning to aspiring to become a capable cloud architecture engineer. Ted admitted that his previous self only pursued opportunities to make money, lacking clear goals or expectations. However, now he hopes to become a more outstanding cloud architecture engineer given the opportunities provided by the company. From front-end to back-end, and to architecture planning, network systems, CICD, among other areas, he aims to gradually develop into a technical consultant.

Flexible Thinking and Implementation Spirit: Key to Leading a Successful Team

Ted currently leads the pre-sales architecture department in the technical department. His main responsibilities include frequently visiting customers with the sales team, understanding customer needs, and assisting in cloud deployment after technical communication. He shared with us that the culture of the pre-sales architecture department is akin to the interaction among friends, where they help each other while maintaining healthy competition, inspiring everyone's potential. It is also a department that is rigorous yet flexible. Although it has systems and plans in place, it encourages members to think independently and develop freely. Like a coach, it sets goals and provides suggestions without restricting how to proceed. This indirectly fosters the core values of the team - flexible thinking and implementation spirit. Clarifying problems and collecting information from various sources, after careful consideration and integration, they fully implement and verify various solutions. This is the ability that an excellent engineer should possess. However, Ted also mentioned that while pre-sales partners are developing their independent operation capabilities, they need more adjustment and coordination in communication and collaboration, hoping to move towards better development in the future.

Facing the supervisors in the technical department, Ted expressed great respect for them. He described the supervisor as a meticulous person who can consider issues comprehensively. In their discussions, the supervisor often puts forward many different perspectives, which makes Ted feel like he is thinking about problems on the shoulders of giants, thereby honing his ability to think at a higher level. Additionally, Ted mentioned the supervisor's firm sense of responsibility. He recalled a memorable experience when they encountered difficulties during a website migration project. He, the supervisor, and another colleague worked overnight at the company to study the approach. Watching the supervisor and the colleague persistently seek solutions before giving up left a deep impression on Ted. That experience greatly benefited his subsequent professional growth, leading him to continuously demand more from himself and rigorously require his team members.

Inspired by HigherCloud's Experience, Dreaming of Studying Abroad

Regarding future development, Ted plans to continue his studies in engineering-related specialties and does not rule out the possibility of returning to campus to obtain degrees in relevant fields. Due to his background in political science, he believes he needs to improve his technical knowledge to endorse his abilities and broaden his future path as an engineer, allowing himself to go further and more steadily. In addition to this, considering his own future plans, Ted is currently focusing on cultivating the next generation of team members, hoping that they will be able to take on more responsibilities and help the company grow rapidly in the technical field.

For Ted, HigherCloud is a meaningful place. He participated in the company's construction from scratch, transitioned to become an engineer, and even dreamed of studying abroad. These experiences are attributed to HigherCloud's generous provision of flexible development space for employees. He expressed gratitude to the company for giving him the opportunity to challenge himself and allowing him, a technical novice, to try. He also thanked every colleague he met at HigherCloud, from whom he learned a lot and shaped his current character and way of doing things. In addition, Ted looks forward to the company continuing to grow in the future and giving back more to its employees, enabling them to grow together with the company towards a better future.