Colette Gotfried is a Sr. CloudEngineer currently working out of Princeton, New Jersey. We caught up with herto learn more about her process in joining DoiT, what it’s like to work in aremote role, and what makes working at DoiT so unique.
As a CRE, how does DoiT set you up for success?
DoiT allowed me a relaxedonboarding experience by giving me some time to get oriented and educated. Aspart of our onboarding process, a new hire is assigned one or more mentors toassist him/her during the first few weeks. That also serves the purpose ofgetting acquainted with the team and having a friend from the beginning.
My mentor was my manager, and hewas fantastic. He provided me with the tools to start contributing but alsoinstilled in me the DoiT attitude with our customers of always going the extramile and striving for total satisfaction. That was important, and I do it nowwhen I am someone’s mentor. Most importantly, the CRE team was extremelyhelpful, providing answers to all my questions and guiding me through thevarious processes and sources of knowledge. I never felt inadequate or that Icould not do the role, thanks to the constant reassurance and empowerment ofbeing a part of a team that values collaboration.
What is it like partnering with DoiT’s (Sales) team? How often doyou interact?
Many times during my job, I findmyself interacting with Sales. This mostly happens during pre-sales calls sincewe are brought in to showcase our technical expertise. Most recently, I wasasked to provide cost optimization tips to a prospective customer based ontheir current architecture. It is important for our future customers toperceive the role the CRE team can play in their day–to–day lives and that DoiTprovides many more benefits than a regular Cloud reseller would. Our presencein sales calls is to prove that point. We typically perform a briefarchitecture review and hear about our future customers' pain points. We canthen provide preliminary advice and/or solutions. Our sales team holds us inhigh respect, and we also understand their critical role. We have goodcollaboration and constantly work to make it more fruitful.
%20(1).jpg)
What’s the culture like at DoiT?
The culture at DoiT is one ofcollaboration, support, and mutual help internally. We are constantlyrecognizing others' accomplishments with shoutouts on Slack, LinkedIn, orBonusly (our peer recognition platform). Doit also celebrates newcertifications and promotions every month. This type of culture has brought afully remote-first and global organization closer than I could have imagined.Externally, we always put the customer first, continuously striving to go theextra mile, which can clearly be seen on our CSATscore (customer satisfaction score).
How do you manage your time? Can you share your day-to-day?
The first thing I do in the morningis check on the status of my open tasks. It is also time to catch up on ourmany different Slack channels. All this I do while sipping my morning coffee.Depending on the day, I will also schedule out a few hours for training (professional development)
During my lunch break, I like to gofor a walk or a run and then grab a quick salad. I usually work until 5:30 PM,tending to whatever comes up, and then I may go to the gym, to the pool, orspend time with friends and family. Sometimes, only if I choose to, and if the need arises, I could help a customerduring the weekend for an urgent issue. This is not mandatory, but it isavailable to us and compensated accordingly, which is a nice added benefit.
What do you enjoy most about working at DoiT?
Mostly, I enjoy the flexibility. Itapplies to many areas: I can work from any location, I can arrange my scheduleto fit my life constraints, and quite as importantly, I can developprofessionally as I see fit by picking an area of specialization and dedicatingmy self-development time towards it. It gives the feeling of being constantlylearning and staying at the bleeding edge of our technology.
But a close second is thefriendliness of everyone and the feeling of belonging to a special group.Everyone within the cloud engineering team comes from different backgrounds, beit professional or cultural. This creates a vibrant atmosphere of exchange andopenness. We get to meet in person at least once a year when we participate inour annual Company kick-off, and there, we get to strengthen our friendshipsand camaraderie.
Finally, the nature of my job is tobe involved in many different customer environments and projects, which allowsme to have a holistic and deeply informed approach to cloud technologies. Thisis a rare opportunity here at DoiT, with the added possibility we have toparticipate in conferences and meetups and are encouraged to undertakecertifications and enroll in professional training. I am building a very solidexpertise in my field.
When you look at your future at DoiT, what excites you?
I hope that DoiT will establishitself in the coming years as a center of excellence for Cloud Architecture. Weare a very talented and highly performant group of engineers with immensecombined experience. We can be an ally for any company willing to optimizetheir operations on the Cloud. We do so much more than reselling cloud, and Idesire for our expertise to be recognized. It is already happening today, and Iwill strive to contribute beyond expectations and be instrumental in ourdevelopment and growth.
