Here’s what 3 role changes in 7 years taught me about career development
Professional development isn’t a one-way street. Here’s what mine has looked like and what I’ve learned from it.
I joined SumUp way back in December of 2013 as a Customer Support Agent for the German, Austrian and Swiss — and later, French — markets. At the time, the company was just a fraction of the size it is today. Looking back, I can still remember walking into the office for my first interview and all the feelings that came with it. Everything was exactly as I’d imagined for a Berlin-Kreuzberg startup. Colleagues all knew each other and the office felt very typical of a small-scale tech business.
To give you an idea of just how small-scale things were, I’ll use the company’s fortnightly breakfast as an example. Back then, a group of 5 SumUppers would be put in charge of each event. It was always super interesting to see what we’d end up with and how much effort our colleagues would put into it. We once had burgers at 9 in the morning ;).
After working as a support agent for a while, it became clear to me that I was ready for a change. Around a year and a half into my career at SumUp — and thanks to our VP Marketing, Sibylle Jost — I joined the Marketing Team as a Content Manager. It’s there where I was able to put my support knowledge to new use. I translated to German, managed localisation projects, worked on our Support Centre and helped build email campaigns based on different user journeys. The latter turned out to be one of my favourite topics and is where my passion really grew. Because of this, my role naturally evolved into that of a CRM Marketing Manager. For the next few years, I was fully focussed on all aspects of the CRM Marketing world.
As the company continued to scale internationally, it was becoming more and more clear that more resources were needed for CRM Marketing. It just wasn’t practical to have one person covering everything for 29 countries. So, you can imagine my joy when a CRM Marketing team was formed. It felt great to be surrounded by peers who shared my love for marketing around customer journeys. Things were great and we were finally a well-oiled CRM machine.
By now you’re probably wondering about how and why I changed to a third role. Good question! Last year, I was approached by Ena, our Salesforce Marketing Cloud Lead, who asked if I had any interest in joining her team. At the time, I felt personally connected with the CRM Marketing Team, and still do, so it was a difficult decision to make. After giving it plenty of thought, I decided that it was an opportunity I needed to take. Not only would the new role expand my skill set, but it would allow me to leverage my technical skills more so than CRM marketing did. Moreover, I thought it would be interesting to transition from someone who is using the platform to someone who is actually working on it. Essentially, I’d be the one helping out the “younger me.” On top of that, the Salesforce Team had always been particularly welcoming and fun to be around. I knew I’d be in good company.
With all of this in mind, in January of 2020, I reshuffled to a new — and my current — position of Marketing Cloud Administrator. So far, I’m loving it. I’ve already learned a lot and there’s still so much to learn.
Changing roles or reshuffling internally means stepping out of your comfort zone. Of course, it can be challenging, but it’s also a huge opportunity to develop and shape your career path. Plus, it’s a chance to see the company from different perspectives which can help you understand the bigger picture of it all. At SumUp, each team can sometimes feel like its own company, with different challenges, rituals, opinions and approaches. Reshuffling helps your mind break free from team-based silos and see the company as a whole.
I think one of the biggest learnings from my unconventional career path as SumUp is that it doesn’t need to be conventional. So many people see career development as a ladder to climb. You start as a junior, later become a senior, then a people manager, the end. It’s seen as a one-way street with no allowance for variation. But I don’t see it this way. Career development is about growing and learning. It can happen in any and all directions. It’s about being curious, no matter how experienced you already are.
During my 7 years at SumUp, I’ve learned about so much more than just CRM related topics. I’ve been able to strengthen my soft skills. Whether it’s learning how to disagree, give feedback or finding strength in being a sensitive introvert in a fast-moving workplace, I’ve learned about myself. Of course, there is still so much work to be done in all of these areas.
In general, my advice to you is to embrace change. With change comes new opportunities and excitement. Having held 3 positions in a relatively short period of time, these past 7 years have felt both long and short. The company feels both new and familiar. In fact, it’s quite common for people in my generation to switch companies every 2–3 years, but I never felt the need. Looking back, the marketing team used to be just Sibylle and me, now it’s over 81 of us. I’m constantly meeting new, good-hearted people that I get to call my colleagues. Of course, nothing is perfect in life or at SumUp. But I’m also not one to immediately leave once things get to be challenged. Thankfully, I’ve been given the chance to write for multiple chapters in the book we call SumUp. It feels good to be part of the longer story.
