Engineering Spotlight: Ailin Cao
At Pluribus Digital, one of our guiding principles as an organization is to Support People. We want our employees to not only feel valued in the workplace, but that they are growing and their careers are advancing while here. This is why we prioritized and launched a career model framework last year. It was important for us to be transparent about what development opportunities are available at Pluribus so employees could see technical upskilling opportunities and promotion potential at the organization. This framework outlines a multi-level career path across engineering, product and design. Our growth philosophy is centered on not limiting people to one specialty, one discipline or a linear path into leadership. We want everyone to feel empowered in designing their own path for development.
We chatted recently with a developer on our team (that just hit one year with the company) regarding her career perspectives and her learning during her time at Pluribus Digital thus far! Ailin Cao, Software Engineer, made a successful transition to a career in software development recently and is new to civic tech efforts.
What aspects of your career have been supported at Pluribus Digital?
Ailin: I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with a variety of modern technologies and many supportive senior engineers on my current project.
What aspects of professional development are important to you?
Ailin: I couldn’t have learned as much without team members who are happy to give feedback and collaborate to build the best possible product.
What types of conversations with leadership are beneficial/conducive to your growth?
Ailin: Being newer to software development, opportunities to have conversations where leaders share their perspectives, priorities and technical upskilling opportunities have been helpful.
What does support mean to you?
Ailin: Support means serving the team.
Ideally, where do you want to be in the next 2–3 years in your career?
Ailin: I’d like to have a broader and deeper understanding of current government processes to understand priorities and opportunities in government technology, to complement my technical experience.
Name some aspects of company culture that are important to you when selecting a new employer. Why?
Ailin: It’s important that a company is mission-driven, because work takes up a large part of our lives, so it’s good to know that the work you do has a positive impact.
Any growth stories from Pluribus Digital that you want to share (cool projects that allowed you to grow technically or your soft skills)?
Ailin: It has been meaningful to work on processes at USCIS to help expedite refugee and immigration cases.
