Use Informal Mentors and Be as Hands-on as Possible with Krista Seiden

Phil’s guest on this episode of the IT Career Energizer podcast is Krista Seiden. She is an experienced leader in the digital analytics industry.  She has led analytics and optimization at companies such as Adobe, The Apollo Group, and Google.

She is also a frequent conference speaker as well as a winner of ‘Digital Analytics Rising Star’ in 2014 and ‘Practitioner of the Year’ in 2015.

In this episode, Phil and Krista Seiden discuss how she got into digital analytics and how she used informal mentors and social media to learn and network. She also explains how volunteering has helped her to gain new skills and she shares her thoughts on the future of IT.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

(3.35) TOP CAREER TIP

Use informal mentors. From the start of her career, Krista has been doing exactly that. When she saw something that interested her on social media, she would reach out to learn more. It proved to be an effective way of making connections. When she finally met them in person, after following them and reading what they had to say, she always had plenty to talk about with them.

(4.47) WORST CAREER MOMENT

When Krista´s team came up with a way to increase the number of people signing up for a free trial by 20%. As was customary at Google, Krista sent out an email letting everyone know.

Unfortunately, it turned out that a significant percentage of the free trial conversions were from the Philippines. Most of which never became paid customers. However, their idea was still a good one, just not as effective as they had first thought. But it was still quite an embarrassing situation. Now, Krista always digs deeper into the numbers before sharing anything.

(8.20) CAREER HIGHLIGHT

After only 3 months at Google, Krista came up with a simple homepage that converted better than anything else. That in itself was an achievement. Better still, the stats for her idea even reached the inbox of Google´s co-founder Larry Page. Over time, her approach was widely shared and used.

(12.09) THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T

The fact that new ways of doing things are emerging all of the time means that the possibilities are endless. Better still, it is relatively easy to learn and take advantage of these new technologies.

(13.20) THE REVEAL

What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – Krista was attracted to an IT career by the fact that you could nerd out and create something useful, fresh, and new.

What’s the best career advice you received? – You need to write more.

What’s the worst career advice you received? – You need to change who you are to fit in better.

What would you do if you started your career now? – Krista says she would probably major in business and minor in computer science instead of the other way around.

What are your current career objectives? – Krista is focused on growing and scaling her own analytics business.

What’s your number one non-technical skill? – Public speaking.

How do you keep your own career energized? – Krista always finds attending the SUPERWEEK analytics conference in Hungary to be energizing for her career. It is a great way to connect with others in the industry.

What do you do away from technology? – Krista enjoys spending time with her husband working on their home and looking after their new puppy.

(20.39) FINAL CAREER TIP

Get hands-on. The more you do the faster you learn. Volunteering is a great way to gain more experience and end up working on a variety of projects.

BEST MOMENTS

(3.30) – Krista - “Find informal mentors from your sector. People you can connect with and learn from.”

(14.25) – Krista - “Write more and write often enough for people to get to know you and your work.”

(15.49) – Krista - “Don´t change who you are and how you are doing things, simply to fit someone else´s idea of what you should be saying and doing.”

(17.59) – Krista - “Don´t be afraid of public speaking. When you put yourself out there you benefit greatly from the I.T. ecosystem.”

(20.39) – Krista - “You learn more by doing. So, get hands-on. Try volunteering, it is a good way to work on a variety of projects.”

ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS

Phil Burgess is an independent IT consultant who has spent the last 20 years helping organizations to design, develop, and implement software solutions.  Phil has always had an interest in helping others to develop and advance their careers.  And in 2017 Phil started the I.T. Career Energizer podcast to try to help as many people as possible to learn from the career advice and experiences of those that have been, and still are, on that same career journey.

CONTACT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS

Phil can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/philtechcareer

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philburgess

Facebook: https://facebook.com/philtechcareer

Instagram: https://instagram.com/philtechcareer

Website: https://itcareerenergizer.com/contact

Phil is also reachable by email at [email protected] and via the podcast’s website, https://itcareerenergizer.com

Join the I.T. Career Energizer Community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITCareerEnergizer

ABOUT THE GUEST – KRISTA SEIDEN

Krista Seiden is an experienced leader in the digital analytics industry.  She has led analytics and optimization at companies such as Adobe, The Apollo Group, and Google.

She is also a frequent conference speaker as well as a winner of ‘Digital Analytics Rising Star’ in 2014 and ‘Practitioner of the Year’ in 2015.

CONTACT THE GUEST – KRISTA SEIDEN

Krista Seiden can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kristaseiden

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristaseiden/

Blog: http://kristaseiden.com/

Website: www.ksdigital.co