6 months at DigitalOcean

Time flies. Six months ago, I started a new role at DigitalOcean, aka DO. I was coming in with a lot of excitement about this new challenge. I was also bringing a lot of apprehensions based on recent experiences. One hundred eighty-four days later, I can't be happier of the choice I've made.

DO Culture

It's one thing to have the company's values written on the website, it's another to live them and DigitalOcean do. It is critical for me that my employer has values that I respect. The company's culture is the foundation of my decision to join or not a new adventure. Simplicity, trustworthy, speaking up, and love are part of my personal values. Listening, respect and the community-driven approach are part of my professional values too. Can the fit be better, I think not! I can see those throughout the work and the daily interactions of my colleagues. These resonate into the Developer Relations team, which has the same vision as me on how we can help developers being successful while contributing to the company growth. We spend so much time at work, loving what we do is important.

DO People

The people you hire are a reflection of your values, and the foundation of your company. I cannot write about all the organization, but the people I've worked with or meet really are amazing. They are folks who care! They care about their work. They care about the community. They care about our customers and most important, they care about each other. My team (Developer Relations), my virtual team (Hatch program) and my department (Community) are composed of a bunch of lovely humans. Love and people first, seem to be our unofficial motto.

DO Care

I'm a big believer that you should trust, empower, and invest in your people. After all, the company wouldn't exist without them! There are different ways to do that. On the trust and empowerment level, the space my manager gives me to be creative and achieving my goals is a perfect example. He is there to support me when needed, but leave me the space I need to be successful and happy at work. DO invest in their employees in many ways. Of course, compensations and benefits are really good, but for me, it's the attention to details. As an example, since I don't have access to the offices' perks, I receive coffee and snacks at home monthly. I can definitely afford those, but it's one way to make remotes feel they are part of the company. Another example that I cherish a lot is the fact that, once a month, I can order an ebook that will help me with my work. They are small gestures, but with more than 600 employees, it adds up quickly finance-wise. Here, I'm not even talking about the fact we just had a company offsite at Disney Land...

Obviously, no place is perfect, and we have some glitches here and there, but overall, DO is one of the best workplaces I had. The best thing about all this is that they seem to appreciate me! I know it's not always easy to work with a strong personality like mine, but they get along with the good, the bad, and the ugly... I'm also proud of what I've accomplished and the impact I had, which is important for me. So after 27 weeks at DigitalOcean, I sincerely hope that it's only the beginning of my journey with Sammy the shark!