Dear You--
I haven’t met you yet, but I feel like I already know you. You’re smart (that goes without saying), ambitious, and engaged. You like to work because you find work interesting, and you like to solve problems because you get a sense of personal satisfaction when you and your team deliver an elegant solution. You care deeply about people. You recognize that everybody makes mistakes, that everybody is always learning, and that failing is part of learning. At the same time, you have high standards, you can look a deadline in the face, and you aren’t afraid of difficult conversations. You are amazing. You really are.
I know that you’ve worked with technology for a number of years. I don’t care how many years, exactly, I just care that you have a gut sense for how technology works. Its corners. Its hidden layers. Its concerns. Its desire to please and its cries for help. You know that technology can be a little bit rowdy sometimes, a little bit unruly. You like this about technology. You like that there’s so much potential, so many different paths it could take through life. But you also like to be able to tell a good story to technology and get technology to straighten up, put on the long pants, and go out into the world having cleaned behind its ears.
Have you worked as a product manager before? I don’t know, but you have everything a good product manager needs. Your first question is “Why?” followed by “Why?” You get business value the same way you get brushing your teeth with your right hand (or maybe your left?) You know the basics of analytics, of A/B testing, or phased releases, of roadmaps. You know how to write a beautiful user story, and it’s important to you that you get the acceptance criteria just so. Agile? You know that you could never go back to the way it was before. You dream about Agile. In one of your dreams, the scrum master asks you a question, and at first you panic, but then you say the only answer, the right answer: “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.”
Have you coded before? I don’t know. Have you worked in an agency, or directly with clients? Again, I don’t know. Have you been burned by past bosses, or by unhealthy work environments? Maybe. I haven’t met a single person who has come through unscathed. I can promise you that I will always treat you like a human, that I will care about your personal and professional growth, and that I want to learn from and be challenged by you. You will be working for a company that leads by values not by policy. We hire carefully because every person who works here matters. We love and cherish our culture. We are here because we want to do good work, and all of us, from finance to QA, are craftspeople at heart.
I can’t wait to meet you, but like I said, I feel like I know a little about you already.
Yours with respect and admiration,
Victoria
Read job posting here.