Spotlight on Sharon Hertel, Senior Product Manager

1. How was your first year of working at DPM?

Starting something completely new and having to learn new things is always exciting and not always easy. Luckily I already had familiar faces when I finally joined which made settling in really easy - and after a few days it felt like I was always there. There were ups and downs and a whole lot of fun, exiting projects and - what I had hoped for most when joining - lots to learn.

2. What was your career plan after school, and have you stayed true to it?

As I’m sure many of us have, I had all kinds of different ideas of what I wanted to be - a teacher, a researcher, work with animals, an artist and what not. A few attempts to get into arts school, a bachelor, a few internships and jobs later here we are. Working in ecommerce as a content editor. But I realized quickly that my curiosity and my sense for organization lead me more towards a more process oriented role. And this is how I stumbled across the field of Product Management and discovered my passion for working in tech. To conclude - plans are only good in the moment you make them.

3. How do you balance work with your personal life?

What has always worked for me in my professional, as well as my private life, is having a schedule, which helps me set boundaries and distribute and focus on all the things I want and need to do.

Sharing interests with the people around me, going swimming with my friend, having dance class once a week, having dinners with friends once a month.

Making plans in my time off helps me keep a healthy balance and prioritize that.

4. What makes DPM different from other companies?

When I first joined I was surprised at how respectful and mindful people were with each other. At DPM every individual contributes and therefor matters. Success is really a team effort. #bettertogether

5. If you could switch within DPM, which job would you want and why?

As a woman, many times throughout your life, you will be told what you can or cannot do. One of those comments actually got me into Tech - “hold my prosecco and let me show you” is what I thought back then.

As a PM, I would like to change places with my counterparts in Tech and get to really dig into codes and understand how all the little screws work together to form an app, platform, or website.

Seeing work and something you build come to life is something that, I think, might be quite fulfilling.

6. Is there any advice you could give anyone who’s thinking about applying to DPM?

We spend quite a big chunk of our lives at our jobs, so we need to get along with our colleagues and like what we do to make it a great experience. So, my only advice is to be yourself. Only then you will be able to figure out what works for you and if DPM might work for you.