Career Path of a Software Engineer at a Big Tech Company
Matthew's career path started with a double major in math and philosophy, driven by an initial interest in priesthood and mathematical logic, later pursuing doctoral studies in logic at UC Berkeley before transitioning to teaching mathematics and eventually tech, noting a background curiosity about coding and theoretical computer science. Securing the first software engineering role at Ion, a fraud detection company, Matthew then gained experience at various startups before finding a place at a Big Tech Company, where the scale and impact of projects used by millions of users proved "incredibly eye-opening and incredibly challenging".
Software Engineering, Career Change, Academia to Industry, Startups, Big Tech
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Matthew Gagliardi
Software Engineer III
Big Tech Company
University of San Diego
U.C. Berekely . M.A. mathematics
Mathematics, Data Science, Statistics, Philosophy
Arts, Entertainment & Media, Technology
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
Took Out Loans
Video Highlights
1. Transition from Academia to Tech: Matthew's initial career path was focused on mathematics and teaching, including doctoral studies in logic. He later transitioned to tech, highlighting a shift in career goals and the acquisition of new skills.
2. Importance of Foundational Skills & Self-Learning: Despite lacking formal software engineering experience, Matthew secured his first tech job at Ion, a fraud detection company. He emphasized the value of self-directed learning and on-the-job training.
3. Diverse Startup Experience: Matthew's experience working for multiple startups across various sectors (FinTech, biotech, consulting) provided him with diverse skills and business acumen, leading to his current role at a Big Tech Company.
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path? Please start with your experiences in college, any internships, or jobs you had before your current role.
I started at the University of San Diego with a double major in math and philosophy. My career path was actually quite circuitous. I originally went to USD thinking I wanted to be a priest and took many philosophy classes, which got me interested in mathematical logic.
When I left the seminary, I began a second major in math at USD. I left USD with degrees in math and philosophy. At that point, I thought I wanted to be a mathematician, specifically a logician specializing in set theory.
I went to the University of California at Berkeley and began doctoral studies in their logic group, technically the group in Logic and Methodology of Science, probably the most highfalutin sounding PhD program. It was a joint PhD program in math and philosophy and took a very long time. I ended up leaving with a master's degree, deciding not to stick it out all the way through.
During that time, I gained good experience teaching as a TA, teaching summer school at UC Berkeley, and teaching at several community colleges in the Bay Area. My original plan was to teach mathematics, and I did that for a few years as a part-time adjunct faculty member at a few campuses.
Then, I realized I wanted to stay in the Bay Area and found the tech industry very interesting. I had always had a curiosity about coding and being a software engineer, more theoretical computer science, but was less familiar with the hands-on aspects. I started doing a few projects on my own.
I decided there were more opportunities, especially if I wanted to stay in the Bay Area, if I went into tech. I got my first job at a small company in San Francisco called Ion, which did real-time fraud detection for credit card transactions. They've since been acquired by MasterCard. That was an interesting job where I learned a lot.
That company really took a chance on me because at that point, I had no hands-on experience as a software engineer. A lot of other people were doing boot camps, but I didn't have that option; I really needed to work full-time.
After that, I started working for a few different startups in the Bay Area across various disciplines, from FinTech to biotech. I worked for a biotech company called Zimmern, a payments platform called Marketta, and a consulting company called ParAveda Solutions, which did custom solutions for companies without their own software engineering departments.
ParAveda was a fantastic learning experience. I got to travel quite a bit and gained the most exposure to the business side of things. It required a lot of interaction with clients and explaining the business value of our work, as opposed to just sitting in my corner and coding.
Finally, I ended up at my current company, a big tech company, where I've been working as a software engineer for about four years. It's been very eye-opening, going from startups to working on massive products used by millions of users with billions of transactions per day. It's been incredibly eye-opening and challenging, but I am definitely grateful to be where I am.