My Sprinklr journey with the 3 WHYs

“Hey Doo, long time! How have you been?” I still vividly remember the voice of Angie, a good friend of mine from university and now a teammate. Last summer, she asked me if I would be interested in the internship opportunity at Sprinklr. It didn’t take too long for me to feel convinced that Sprinklr was the place I was looking for.

Caption: Welcome dinner with Japan team. Angie and Rinca, who joined Sprinklr with me as interns.

Time has passed. About a month ago was my 1st Sprinklrversary (Sprinklr Anniversary), and I am truly grateful for where I’m now. So, I wanted to look back and write about my experience at Sprinklr with the three WHYs.

Sprinklr named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Social Suites, Q3 2021

Why anything?

I was born and raised in South Korea, spent three years of high school in Pennsylvania in the United States, and went to university in Japan, I’ve always dreamed of working in a company where I can fully utilize my language skills and multicultural background. Also, I wanted to feel accomplished so that my efforts positively impact people and directly help them in many ways. And I am happy to say that what I do as a Demo Engineer at Sprinklr meets all the conditions of my ideal workplace.

Let me share three key tasks from a recent Friday to show you why.

The morning begins, and that’s when I focus on my primary task: building demo assets, e.g., a reporting dashboard or chatbot workflow. This time, I supported one opportunity for a retail company in India and I collaborated with many engineers from the Product Engineering team.

As the lead for Sprinklr Service solution on our team, I am always taking the pulse of new capabilities, such as our voice call capability. Later that day, I had the opportunity to run the enablement session for our Solution Consultants based in eight different countries in the APAC region.

After a quick lunch, my next meeting was with a Lead Solutions Consultant from Switzerland and a Product Specialist from London. We discussed projects that benefit the entire presales organization, and it’s a great feeling to be in a position to broadly impact the organization. From a tiny room in Tokyo, I supported three ongoing opportunities globally and interacted with people from 15 different countries in only one day.

Why now?

Juniors in Japanese universities all start their job hunting with identical black suits in a given schedule. We call that “Shukatsu.” I was one of them too. We gather an immense amount of information aimlessly and practice for interviews repeatedly, like taking an exam. I eventually received an offer from one Japanese trading company I wanted to go to without knowing what I would do. There is a system in Japan where all the new graduates do not know which department they will land until the end of training.

Caption: “Shukatsu” dress code.

Then the pandemic hit. As I got to have much more alone time, I started reading more books and finally took sufficient time to contemplate what I wanted to pursue in my career. Then I found myself deeply interested in the IT industry and especially in digital transformation.

That’s when the first “why now” came to my mind. Literally, why now? Starting to job hunt again from scratch for a different industry after one-and-a-half years of endeavors and struggles? My answer was, “Yes, right now.” Otherwise, I will regret it, and I was rather excited for new challenges. Considering this, I was fortunate to receive a phone call from Angie soon after studying and preparing for the IT industry.

Despite the great experiences I was thoroughly enjoying at Sprinklr, after about a month and a half I was confronted with a difficult decision: I got an offer from the previous company for a full-time role. At the time, I didn’t know whether my internship at Sprinklr would be transferred to a full-time position. But, even if that was the case and I wouldn’t get to work full time at Sprinklr, I was confident that the experience was worth much more than making a practical, safe decision.

Looking back, I feel blessed to have said, “It’s okay. Be fearless,” (one of Sprinklr’s Core Values) and making the decision to stay at Sprinklr was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life.

Why Sprinklr?

I can give you one word to answer, “Why Sprinklr?” Simply, but most importantly, it’s the people. Every Friday, the APAC Solution Consultants team has a weekly closing call where each of us shares our highlights and lowlights of the week, and what we are looking forward to next week. It doesn’t have to be work-related, so we get to take a little break from work with some laughter. I have felt a strong bond with this team and the entire company since the first day, even though we are physically apart in many different countries.

Caption: Captured on APAC team’s weekly call.

I was once worried about starting my first job in a fully remote work position. Not surprisingly, in the beginning, there were hardships and times I felt alone in my room since I had to learn something utterly new via only virtual interactions. Nevertheless, I was able to overcome and grow both professionally and personally under excellent leadership and mentorship. Hyojung from the Korean office, my mentor when I was an intern, taught me never to give up, which changed my attitude toward challenges as a professional. Furthermore, Tracy and Nicolo in Japan were always willing to listen to the difficulties I was going through and give me precious advice. Also, the strong trust from leadership and the rest of the team always motivated me to become better and better.

Caption: Solution Consulting team in Korea. Workation to Okinawa with Japan team.

Working as a full-time employee was also different from being an intern. Not only was there an increase in the difficulty and volume of tasks, but also the added weight of responsibility. I remember feeling overwhelmed once I became a product lead after the onboarding period. However, my managers, Kate and Will, have checked on me, ensuring that I’m happy rather than only looking at my performance. Especially Akshay, my direct manager, has constantly demonstrated a “fix-it-don’t-complain” attitude, which I believe is an essential value for a Demo Engineer.

From intern to Demo Engineer, I was never alone in the journey, and I feel truly blessed to meet these great mentors who passionately, genuinely care. Here at Sprinklr, I’m not afraid of upcoming challenges, and I also want to become a mentor to others and pass on the valuable lessons I have learned from my colleagues and mentors.

To anyone feeling lost and hesitating to accept a new challenge for their first career decision, be fearless and take one more step forward! That one more step can change your life, and you might already have a strong bridge built for you in Sprinklr, and all you need to do is keep moving forward.

Learn more about careers at Sprinklr.

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Sprinklr named a leader in The Forrester Wave™: Social Suites, Q3 2021

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