This month’s professional spotlight features Aman Adhanom. Aman is Director of Product at Omniscience Corporation. Learn more about Aman and his work below:
Could you briefly explain some of your responsibilities in your current career role.
I’m responsible for development of new products and services for the company. I also manage engineering and customer success. What that means is that I basically outline the product vision for the company, make sure the engineering teams can execute on it, and ultimately ensure that our customers are getting value out of it.
How did you come to decide that this was the right career path for you?
I studied engineering in college. I knew early on that as much as I liked technology, I liked the business of technology even more. I got the opportunity to switch into product management early in my career and haven’t looked back since.
Is there a philosophy that drives your career?
Yeah. I believe that if you’re comfortable in what you’re doing then something has to change if you want to progress. I typically assess where I’m at in my job/role every 12-18 months. If I haven’t gained responsibility or learned a new skill set, then I have to decide if the change has to happen within myself or the environment that I’m in.
What do you consider to be your greatest professional accomplishment?
I don’t know about my greatest accomplishment, but I like that I’m in a position of solving problems. I get to create things that solves a pain for customers that buy my products, and I get to do it with a team that is extremely smart and challenges me every day.
What’s one piece of advice you would give someone looking to transition into your line of work?
For those interested in the tech. industry, I believe either studying computer science or engineering is very helpful, but even more so is having a passion for technology and problem solving. Also, making investments in yourself by continuing education either through graduate school or online courses can be necessary if you want to separate yourself from your peers. Biggest piece of advice though would be to set goals for where you want to be and exercise curiosity (i.e. ask questions) to understand what it takes to get there.
Outside of all of your hard work and efforts toward building your brand, what do you do for fun? Hobbies?
I’m a big sports fan. If I’m not in the gym, I’m probably on the court playing ball or watching a game. I’m also big on volunteer work. I’ve moved around a lot, but I always try to find 1 or 2 organizations max where I can leverage my background to give back.