My Path to Akamai
Hi! My name is Amirah Zahidah binti Onn, and I have a story that I want to share. Best buckle up!
Three years ago, I graduated with a bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering (Mechatronic) from University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. I was to be an engineer in the oil and gas industry - but the universe had a better plan for me. Instead, I stepped into IT, providing Technical Support despite my lack of knowledge. I was struggling! But it was there that I found my passion.
It was this passion that led me to be headhunted for a Technical Consultant Associate position at Akamai (well, thanks to my nice LinkedIn profile, and Abigail, the awesome recruiter!). Since then, my role has exposed me to many new things - from analyzing website performance and security, to running reports. And the whole time, Akamai has never failed to amaze me with their technologies.
Being in a global company, I get to work with peers in Poland and Costa Rica, meaning I get to experience many different ways of working. I also have a mentor, Kamila, who helps me. Our relationship doesn't end after our mentor-mentee sessions either, we continuously have a chit chat every week.
Looking back at each of my roles, I've realized whenever I joined a company, I was always the least experienced member in my team. But giving up is not in my life's dictionary! I'm privileged to have great people such as my director, my manager, teammates and also my colleagues in Akamai Malaysia who always explain things and support me. Things can be hard sometimes, but I will always pull myself together and give a reminder that nothing comes easy in this world. Akamai is a great place to work because everyone is open to share their knowledge with you.
A picture of my teammates and I during our team building in January this year where we baked a swiss roll. Guess which one is my manager?
I still consider myself as Junior, but there are a few takeaways that I can share. First, don't be afraid to try something new. Maybe things won't turn out like you expect, but it might give you a good return. Second, be yourself. Don't be afraid to be different - some people might see you as an alien but that it is fine. (Being normal is boring anyway!) Third, stand up for yourself in a positive way. Know your worth and don't let people tell you otherwise. Last but not least, trust the process. We all learn differently, and it might take a month, or a few years to be successful. Just don't be passive - opportunity won't come every day.
There is a saying that "the best things happen unexpectedly" - and that's true for my journey at Akamai. I will be celebrating my first year here in December and I can't wait for more exciting things that I can learn.
My manager compiled this picture together, and my job is to steal it and showcase it to everyone.
