👋 Tell us a bit about yourself: how did you get started?
Hi! I’m Si Jia and I’m from Vancouver, BC. I work in Crypto at Revolut, one of the fastest growing fintechs and where we’re trying to build the world’s first truly global financial super app. In my free time, I’m also a mentor at Skillful, where I teach young professionals how to use SQL, analyze data, and solve unstructured problems, to help them break into a career in tech.
I got into fintech only after experimenting with a few other careers. I landed an investment banking job straight out of university, but I quickly knew it wasn’t for me. I also worked for a non-for-profit in South America, but I didn’t see a future there either.
It was only after a ton of coffee chats and job interviews that I knew I wanted to work in an industry that was fast-paced and ever-changing. That’s when I made the call to give fintech a try and I haven’t looked back since. Now I’m knee-deep in the world of Discord DAOs and Crypto Twitter, where I’m building my knowledge in web3 to become a blockchain baddie.
👋 Our community is curious about all that you do: what do you do in your current role? What’s it like working at Revolut? Walk us through a day in your life!
I’m an Operations Manager for the Crypto team. This means I wear many different hats. My day-to-day includes:
- Scaling the the crypto product offering
- Driving the initial scoping and strategy of new crypto products
- Collaborating and managing relationships with various protocols
- Building performance and risk tracking dashboards
- Analyze trends and create meaningful insights from data
My role is super cross-functional, so I work with tons of other teams in the business to get things done, including engineers, designers, copywriters, and product marketers. Everyday I’m learning and doing something different.
👋 What is something you love about what you do? Any favorite projects you’ve worked on?
The best way to meet cool people is to do cool things.
At Revolut, I get to work with some of the most ambitious and hardworking people I’ve ever met. It’s rewarding to be constantly learning from those around you. I’m also lucky to have made some great friends at work, so it makes the stressful days a little more tolerable and all the other days way more fun.
I love pop culture and community building, so some of my most creative projects have involved working with our Brand Studio team to create content. The most memorable ones were this brand video inspired by the Summer Olympics and this image inspired by the release of Certified Lover Boy. Both of these posts got Revolut a ton of hype.
👋 If you could tell gen z one thing about making career moves, what would it be?
To follow your energy, not your passion.
I used to be obsessed with finding my passion. I thought finding my dream job was like finding my soulmate, but I felt stuck when I ended up exhausted and unfulfilled. I didn’t know what to do with my life. What changed was when I realized I wouldn’t know if I liked something until I tried. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, but I knew what I didn’t want my life to look like.
Since then, I’ve applied a “trial and error” approach to my career, where instead of making excuses and delaying decisions, I jump headfirst into it instead. If I didn’t like it, I moved on. If I liked it, I stayed. This was what helped me sample multiple careers in investment banking, non-for-profit work, and now fintech, and what helped me to figure out what made me happy.
👋 What is a superpower you know we have as a generation?
Actively disrupting the status quo
👋 Here at Pineapple, we’re firm believers that we’re more than our work: we’d love to know one fun thing that gets you through the week?
Running the Vancouver seawall!
👋 Is there anything you’re manifesting this year?
8 hours of sleep
👋 Where can others find you?
Pineapple: pnpl.io/unicorn
Twitter: @swunicorn
