IE Business School Alumni Give an Inside Look at Working in Tech

IE Business School alumni working at Google, LinkedIn, DocuSign and Salesforce shared insights on personal branding, networking within the IE community and transitioning smoothly into a work environment at Grads Give Back: Tech Edition.

The panel, which featured Bachelor in Business Administration alumni from the class of 2019 included: Coral Taylor (LinkedIn), Juan Gómez-Lechón (DocuSign), Lynn Bergholm (Google), Manuel Moreno (Google), Marta Passarinho Oliveira (Salesforce), and Sherif Aoun (Google).

“The greatest thing about tech is that it’s a very easy thing to transition into because at the end of the day, tech is always a kind of intersection,” according to Moreno, a Digital Strategy consultant at Google.

Grads Give Back is an IE Undergrad Alumni series to inform current students how alumni have used IE resources to build their own careers. This event addressed technology, but each event covers a different field or sector.

Panelists agreed the so-called technology industry is a transversal sector through a variety of companies collaborating with one another. These alumni said they each feel they have a responsibility to genuinely identify themselves with their company’s product and services.

“If you believe in the products and you really believe that the product could help a lot of companies to achieve their goals, it just makes the job way easier,” said Passarinho, who now works as a Sales Development Consultant for Startups and SMBs in the Iberian market for Salesforce.

Another key factor highlighted in the discussion as helping employees contribute to a company in a unique way was developing a personal brand.

But Taylor, and Account Director at LinkedIn, said developing a personal brand didn’t just help them stand out in their companies, but gave them an edge over the competition in the job market. She encouraged students to take a broader view of their career path by positioning themselves online with a clearly developed brand.

“Work on your professional brand because things are shifting online and just as you can apply with your CV, you can also now apply to a lot of roles with your LinkedIn profile,” Taylor said as a tip to help get noticed for potential job opportunities.

Aoun, a Strategic Partner Manager in Mobile Apps at Google, said the current job market requires candidates to offer something above mere qualifications.

“The most important thing that they look at, is which type of person you are,” Aoun said.

“Because at the end of the day, you can learn whatever you need to learn in a job, right? It’s all about how you are as a person, how versatile you are. How adaptable you are.”
Sherif Aoun, Strategic Partner Manager in Mobile Apps at Google

All of the speakers agreed their time at IE-- and the ability to use the community as a business network-- opened doors that led to where they are now.

“One of my teachers, Leticia Ponze, gave me an internship for six months to finish my degree. That internship gave me my job afterwards. Teachers have a huge amount of contacts and can help you a lot, so take advantage of that resource,” shared Lechón, a Market Development Representative for the Southern Europe division of DocuSign .

Bergholm, a Digital Growth Consultant at Google, went a step further, saying not only the people, but the unique IE environment and real-world pedagogical style proved beneficial at work. IE Alumni with jobs at top tech companies like Google and LinkedIn shared insights with undergrads trying to break into the tech industry.

“The education at IE is very digitally advanced, this definitely is a huge asset when joining tech companies and being comfortable with collaborative platforms and working together,” Bergholm said.