Hone Club Spotlight: Chiara Clough, Support Operations Engineer @ Collibra
At Hone Club, we believe in giving help, getting help, and learning from each other! We use our Hone Club Spotlight as a chance to learn from a fellow community member. This week, we are profiling Chiara Clough, who is currently a Support Operations Engineer at Collibra. Outside of Collibra, Chiara enjoys obscenely long skincare routines, outrageous fun facts, and finding adventures in NYC.
If you have a question for Chiara and are part of our Hone Club community, simply respond back to our Weekly Update in your inbox or comment below with your questions. We’ll compile everything and share answers the following week (anonymously) in our Weekly Update. If you are not a Hone Club member yet, join us today.
Hone Club: Tell us about what your company does and what you do there.
CC: Collibra is a data intelligence software company that allows you to gain centralized control and visibility into your entire data landscape. My role as a member of the Support Operations team, put quite simply, is to enable the Support Department to be the best it can be. This means creating and reviewing team metrics, improving processes, incident management, and working with cross-functional teams.
Hone Club: How did you get to where you are today?
CC: I had been working as a service manager at a restaurant for a few years. I always loved tech and had taken a few computer science courses during the day before my shifts as a hobby. Part of my job at the restaurant included administering the many software tools we used for reservations, events, payroll, scheduling, delivery, social media, etc. and I used to think of ways these tools could be enhanced and improved.
One of my regulars, who worked for a software company, offered me a position providing personalized white glove support to customers willing to pay for premium services. I decided to take a risk and leave the service industry that had become my home and start over as an individual contributor in a new industry.
I was promoted to manage both the technical and “platinum” support teams in under a year. This also gave me the ability to refer two of my former service industry coworkers.
ps. Both of the coworkers I referred are still in tech and doing great :)
Hone Club: What do you think were your most transferable skills when you transitioned from the Service industry to Tech?
CC: People management, customer service, and working in a large cross-functional team.
The service industry gave me a wonderful foundation for how to manage people because our team culture was a family unit. It taught me to communicate with empathy and focus on each individual coworker and their personal goals. In the service industry, many employees have passions and obligations outside of their specific job title or career at the restaurant. This is no different in an office setting, and I think that can often be forgotten.
Having to face customers directly with immediate responses is the equivalent of a customer service sudden death round. In the service industry being constantly “on” is the norm. In a tech setting, you can often prepare for scheduled calls or have the luxury of email correspondence.
Each department in a restaurant has its own persona and processes. All communicate and work together for the service to go smoothly. At a tech company it is the same; the hosts are sales, servers are customer success, and the kitchen is development.
Hone Club: What were some new skills you had to learn when you initially made the transition?
CC: SLACK! I was so confused about why everyone used messaging systems instead of speaking to each other. The office felt so quiet.
There are also a lot of acronyms thrown around. I still look back at my old notebook and laugh at a note I wrote that says, “CMS … CSMs … or both?”
I think most people are worried about the “technical skills” but the truth is that everyone needs to learn the technical details of the product when they start a new job, and every company has videos and documentation on their product (when I took over hiring for the support teams we did a customer services take-home exercise — no technical tests).
Hone Club: What do you love about the Tech Industry? What do you miss about the Service industry?
CC: I love that the tech industry is always changing, and that it allows me to work with people all around the world. I really feel like the companies I have gotten to work for are making a meaningful impact.
What I miss most about the service industry is the community. I had the pleasure of working with and meeting so many wonderful people. I still keep in touch with the great majority of my coworkers and customers.
Hone Club: What are 3 pieces of advice you would give to people who are looking to transition into Tech?
CC:
- Really market your behavioral skills in a quantitative way. Advertise to employers the percentage of sales you make, the number of regulars you retain, email confirmations you send, phone transactions, etc.
- Think about all the technology you use in your daily life and speak about that user experience. We all have software and technology experience. If you have been watching Netflix or ordering on Amazon during this pandemic, you have been using cloud-based SaaS software.
- If you can, find a company in an industry you are passionate about or a product that has a use case you can relate to. And… a bonus:
- Ask for referrals! Connect on LinkedIn, find mentors, call your friend’s cousin who worked at ___. I have never regretted reaching out or asking for help. The worst thing that ever happened is they didn’t respond.
Hone Club is offering a volunteer-based program to help people who’ve lost their jobs in the Services Industry due to COVID-19 fix their resumes and give them overall advice on transitioning into Tech. If you know anyone who might benefit or who could help as a volunteer, they can sign up here: https://www.thehoneclub.com/join
