3 female engineers share how they advanced their careers at Elastic

Job seekers aren't just looking for a new opportunity, they are looking for growth throughout their career. A report cited that only 48% of employees feel they have a path for advancement at their current employer and 46% say they don’t feel their employer supports their career aspirations.

In fact, Hired recently reported that 76% of people looking for a new role list dissatisfaction with career progression opportunities as a contributing factor.

So it’s safe to say that advancement and continued learning are top of mind for employees.

In a LinkedIn Live panel, we spoke with three Elastician engineers who have advanced their careers at Elastic® for their top tips.

Express interest 

First, make your career goals or aspirations known to your manager. Have a conversation about those goals, how to achieve them, what a realistic timeline is, and who may be able to help you along the way.

Jen Huang, Senior Software Engineering Manager, successfully transitioned from an individual contributor engineering role to a leadership position. She continually expressed interest in leadership opportunities and made sure her manager was aware of the leadership tasks she was already doing. She also asked for feedback on her strengths and weaknesses, so she could work to address them.

“Think about how your strengths can be applied to the new role and what you should work on to improve your chance of success,” she says. 

Najwa Harif, Product Manager, moved from a support engineering role to her current product role, and took a similar approach.

“I openly expressed my career goals in conversations with my manager. We designed my career development goals considering that,” she says.

She was able to start doing some product management work on internal projects and connect with product managers to build relevant skills. 

Be curious 

Yuliia Naumenko, Tech Lead, Principal Software Engineer II, moved from an individual contributor role to a team leader. To advance, she worked with her then-manager to identify what to develop and work on, she says. 

“Don't be afraid of the change,” she says. “if you have already started thinking about it then you need to move forward.”

Similarly, Najwa advises to be curious by getting involved in side projects, taking online courses, or listening to podcasts to learn as much as you can. 

Connect with others 

Seeking out people who are in the role  — either within your company or externally —  is a great way to better understand the day-to-day tasks and how to succeed.

Try to connect with someone close to the new role that you want and ask for their definition of success, Jen says. 

Najwa agrees. “Talk with people to find out what the day-to-day looks like, and try to find mentors and attend meetups,” she says. “The company's [Elastic] peer-to-peer program helped me connect with product managers in various teams to learn the mindset.”

Set large and small goals

Both Jen and Najwa advise listing out big goals and then setting smaller ones that ladder up.

“I list out the big goals I have, then list out what needs to be done to achieve them. I like to use the 80/20 (Pareto principle) to prioritize the tasks that have a higher impact — 80% of the outcomes come from 20% of causes,” Najwa says.

“Try to come up with a few metrics to assess progress and review them regularly,” Jen adds. 

Yuliia recommends keeping an eye out for ways to achieve your goals.

“Constantly look for the opportunities which will get you closer to your goal, no matter how big or small,” she says. “Be patient, and don't give up when the time doesn't seem to be right.”

At Elastic, we support our Elasticians as they figure out their career paths through mentorship, fostering internal mobility, and encouraging exploration.

Ready to advance your career? Browse open roles. 

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