What 26 Years in Tech Taught Me About Career Growth

I was honoured to be invited to talk by the Zakey initiative to a group of fresh graduates, most of them with few or no professional experience, so my goal was to share my career path, my lessons learnt, how I tackled learning and growing, my experience across different roles and work environments, and sharing insights into building and navigating a career in tech.

Transcript

1. For the Zakey Cybersecurity Bootcamp A talk for early-career tech people What 26 Years in Tech Taught Me About Career Growth 26 years of following curiosity, and what I'd tell you at the start Isidro López (Isi) islomar.es · @islomar 30 September 2026
2. Before we start A sample of one One story, not a recipe. One person. One career. One context, mostly in Western Europe. Many of you are building a career in conditions I have never faced. Take what is useful. Leave the rest. Isidro López · islomar.es Opening · 2
3. A tiny experiment Quick check Your background: S = still studying G = graduated / looking for my first role W = already working in tech Your direction: 1 = clear · 0 = not yet Example: type G1 in the chat if you’re a graduate with no clear direction in mind Isidro López · islomar.es ALL answers are fine. Opening · 3
4. The journey Lessons Understand the system Grow with others 01 The journey Roles, companies, countries, industries. Zero plan. Stay yourself
5. The journey, in order (dates don't matter) One line, fourteen stops, zero plan 1 2 3 4 5 IRISA (INRIA) Alcatel REALTECH Madrid’s Subway eSailors Research intern France · Research (2000) Telecom engineer Spain · Telecom SAP consultant Spain · Consultancy Dev & change agent Spain · Transport (public company) Software developer Germany · Lottery 10 9 8 7 6 Codium Team Form3 Spotify A pause Alea Soluciones Dev & tech agile coach Remote · Consulting Platform engineer Remote · Fintech Software engineer Sweden · Music Read, meditate, draw Spain · Sabbatical (2017) Dev & SRE apprentice Spain · Telecom 11 12 13 14 ? Clarity AI Qatium Skiller Whale Prima Next stop? Staff engineer & Engineering Manager Remote · ESG data Isidro López · islomar.es Dev & team lead Remote · Water TDD coach Remote · Education (sporadically as freelance) Engineering Manager Remote · Insurance (2025-2026) No idea yet Anywhere · Curiosity (2027) 01 · The journey · 5
6. 01 · The journey The journey in numbers From 2-person to 8,000-person companies. Public and private. Start-ups, scale-ups, and corporate 26 13 ~10 years in IT companies (+1 pause) industries ~15 4 10+ job titles countries lived in programming languages Isidro López · islomar.es 01 · The journey · 6
7. 01 · The journey It is a pendulum, not a ladder Building Research intern Telecom engineer SAP consultant SRE apprentice Platform engineer Staff engineer Developer Product developer Teaching & coaching SAP trainer Leading Team lead Change agent Agile coach Engineering Manager (EM) TDD coach Senior EM Roles and labels changed many times. That is not a bug, it’s a feature. Isidro López · islomar.es 01 · The journey · 7
8. I've never had a “career” plan. Most moves were out of curiosity.
9. 01 · The journey Your first path is not your final path Not good, not bad You will not know until you try Cybersecurity is huge Having no plan is just one way. A clear plan can also work. Try a project. Join a community. Talk to someone doing that job. Move one small step. You may not know yet whether security fits you forever. That is normal too. Curiosity is a good compass. Dare to try if you have the options. Isidro López · islomar.es 01 · The journey · 9
10. 01 · The journey A different journey: Concha Asensio Started in tech at 34 — after working as a lawyer In her words Previous experience became perspective “Growing in tech has ultimately been less about accumulating technologies and titles, and more about learning how to learn, how to collaborate, and how to make better decisions.” Career change taught her how to learn again Growth is not a solo journey: community matters Technology is a tool, not the goal Programming is social: people matter more than code Good engineering is knowing what is worth building: just because we can build it does not mean we should Isidro López · islomar.es Starting later did not mean starting from zero. Everything before tech added perspective. Concha Asensio Martínez-Rives LinkedIn Bluesky 01 · The journey · 10
11. The journey Lessons Understand the system 02 Grow with others Stay yourself Lessons from the road Lessons that stuck. Stories, not a CV.
12. Stop 2 · Alcatel · Madrid · Telecom (2001) Surround yourself with good people Lesson 1: • I learnt the importance of being surrounded by great people who support each other no matter the context • 25 years later, we are still in contact Lesson 2: “- Do you know why he earns much more than you? - No - Because he asked for it.” Isidro López · islomar.es What I took from it Relationships last longer than jobs Don’t be afraid to negotiate your salary/rates (when you have enough safety or options) 02 · Lessons from the road · 12
13. Stop 5 · eSailors · Hamburg, Germany · Online lottery (2013-2015) Asking questions is a superpower Lesson 1: • It’s never too late. This was my first official contract full-time as “software developer”, I was 36 years old Lesson 2: • Asking drives learning, builds humility, uncovers truth, enables change, avoids assumptions, and shows confidence. Something else I took from it Look for places where you're often the least experienced person in the room. “Asking questions is a superpower” (Julia Evans) Great experience, wrong product. More on that later. Isidro López · islomar.es 02 · Lessons from the road · 13
14. Stop 6 · Alea Soluciones · Madrid · Telecom (2015-2017) The TEAM is the product Lesson 1: • The team is the product • “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together” • In praise of ‘normal’ engineers (Charity Majors) Lesson 2: • Quality and speed are a false dichotomy: high quality is what makes sustainable speed possible Lesson 3 • The power of simplicity and taking small steps Some things I took from it Discomfort alone does not teach you. A good team makes it safe to learn. 02 · Lessons from the road · 14
15. Stop 7 · A pause · Galicia, Spain · 10 months Gaps happen A pause can be a career move. I could afford this voluntary pause, and that was a huge privilege. Gaps happen. Some are chosen, many are not. A gap is not a failure. Isidro López · islomar.es What I took from it Make space to choose on purpose when you can. Be ready to explain why. 02 · Lessons from the road · 15
16. Stop 8 · Spotify · Stockholm, Sweden · Music streaming (2018-2019) A famous brand is not a good fit by default • • • • I left after 7 months: I wasn't learning what I needed ◦ Important mismatch of my expectations Big/medium companies contain multiple different realities Let’s not idealize Big Tech: joining a well-known company does not mean that you will learn more or be surrounded by better professionals But… for good and for bad, the badge matters for most people What I took from it A famous name impresses others. What you learn matters more, but it can certainly be useful as a badge. Adventures and misfortunes of a nobody at Spotify (YouTube, in Spanish) Isidro López · islomar.es 02 · Lessons from the road · 16
17. Stop 9 · Form3 · Remote (UK) · Fintech (2019-2020) Remote work runs on communication What I took from it • My first fully remote experience, in a distributed team ◦ A fully distributed team can work perfectly well ◦ You need to develop/improve your writing skills Remote work is great for me! • Completely new role (43 yo): Platform Engineer I could still retrain in my 40s • Remote does not have to be continuously asynchronous: I did a lot of synchronous pair programming here. • It got me flexibility and freedom to live in a village Isidro López · islomar.es Written communication is a career skill, not an optional “nice to have” 02 · Lessons from the road · 17
18. Stop 11 · Clarity AI · Remote · Sustainable finance (2021-2023) Heroes do not scale. Teams do. • Built a Developer Experience team from scratch • First experience as officially Engineering Manager • Applying everything learnt in my previous years ◦ We were a tiny team of 3 people, with no heroes, being able to deliver value and deploy to Production ~20 times per day • Platform as a Product vision: you can work in other areas of IT different to software development, applying some of their best principles, for example fast-feedback loops, simplicity, user focus, long-term vision, etc. Isidro López · islomar.es What I took from it You don’t need a big team nor very senior people to grow a great TEAM. Platform work can be better tackled as any other product development 02 · Lessons from the road · 18
19. The journey Lessons 03 Understand the system Grow with others Stay yourself Understand the system Not cynicism. Protection.
20. 03 · Understand the system Companies and people have different incentives The company You Protects the business. Controls costs. Follows its own incentives. Can change priorities quickly. Protect your learning. Protect your health. Protect your values. Create future options. Understanding the rules is not cynicism. It helps you make better decisions. Isidro López · islomar.es 03 · Understand the system · 20
21. 03 · Understand the system Your company is not your family. Professionalism Blind loyalty Doing great work Unpaid overtime “for the team/company” Being honest and reliable Staying when you've stopped growing Caring about users and colleagues Feeling guilty for leaving Leaving things better than you found them Putting the company above your values Isidro López · islomar.es 03 · Understand the system · 21
22. 03 · Understand the system Dare to earn more, and show what you've done (when you have enough safety or options) Know your market Show your work Talk to peers. Look for salary ranges. Learn how compensation works. Keep a “brag document / impact log”: what you did, its impact, who it helped. Check the salary range where the company hires, not only local salaries: Local, Gulf or global remote? Asking for too little is the more common mistake. Isidro López · islomar.es Do not be shy about sharing it: CTF write-ups, a small home lab, a blog post explaining a vulnerability, fixes to open-source security tools, etc. 03 · Understand the system · 22
23. 03 · Understand the system When looking for a job… (1/2) • Use tools beyond LinkedIn: e.g. Remote OK, Toptal, We Work Remotely, and more. ◦ Ask early whether they can hire and pay someone in Palestine. • Research everything you can about the company ◦ Crunchbase, Glassdoor, ex-employees, blogs, Google News, etc. • Find anyone who works there and could refer you (e.g. using LinkedIn) • Explicitly track every job you want to apply for or have applied to (e.g. simple spreadsheet) • Apply even if you don’t fit 100%: let them reject you, don’t reject yourself! 23
24. 03 · Understand the system When looking for a job… (2/2) • Adapt your CV to highlight your most valuable skills/traits depending on the job position • Whenever possible, include a cover/motivation letter (make it personal and relevant, be honest about any gaps, and address it creatively and proactively) • Prepare extremely well for the interviews, both technical and cultural interviews ◦ Prepare answers to typical questions, and questions to ask them ◦ Practice! ◦ Ask them for feedback 24
25. 03 · Understand the system Where to find information about salaries/rates • https://levels.fyi/ • https://whatisthesalary.com/it-salaries/ • https://www.payscale.com/research/ • https://glassdoor.com/ • https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/trimodal-nature-of-tech-compensat ion • https://www.tryapprove.com/tools/rate-calculator 25
26. The journey Lessons Understand the system Grow with others Stay yourself 04 How you learn and work. Grow with others Learning, curiosity, communication, community and people.
27. 04 · Grow with others In your first years, optimise for learning Students & fresh graduates Already working in software Learning ≠ being underpaid Who will teach you? What will you be exposed to? How do they work day to day? Are you still learning? Who around you makes you better? What moves you one step closer to your goals? Prioritising learning does not mean accepting less than you are worth. But it can be a conscious decision… What you learn early keeps paying off. If you do not have many choices, take the opportunity you have and use it to build the next one. 27
28. Different environments teach different things. None is inherently better. Startup, scale-up or corporate? STARTUP SCALE-UP CORPORATE · Broad role · high ownership · Fast feedback · lots of ambiguity · Often fewer processes and safety nets · Good for: breadth, autonomy, speed · Growing product, teams and systems · Processes are still being invented · More structure, still lots of change · Good for: scaling, change, momentum · More specialised roles · Established systems and processes · More stakeholders; decisions may be slower · Good for: depth, structure, large-scale systems Want more? Startup/Scale-up or Corporate: Which World Actually Fits You? (also available as a YouTube video) Isidro López · islomar.es 04 · Grow with others · 28
29. 04 · Grow with others Tech is huge. Cybersecurity is huge too. Telecom networks Developer experience Research Consultancy Backend Frontend Platform Product development Coaching Training Management IAM SOC & detection DFIR Threat intelligence Product security Security engineering AI security SRE Some security paths AppSec GRC Cloud security Pentesting / red team Threat modelling Your first role does not decide the rest of your career. Backend Platform Isidro López · islomar.es Data & ML Developer experience Product UX & design Accessibility 04 · Grow with others · 29
30. 04 · Grow with others Moving into cybersecurity does not mean starting again If you already develop software, you bring: programming · debugging · APIs · HTTP · Git · CI/CD · databases · cloud · how software is built Those are security skills too. You are adding a new perspective, not deleting your past. Isidro López · islomar.es 04 · Grow with others · 30
31. 04 · Grow with others Broaden your world as much as you can Specialist or generalist? product · people · process · platform · code I call myself a “specialized generalist”: broad across the product, with a few areas with deeper knowledge and experience. Look beyond IT In my case: Anthropology, Psychology, music, an MBA, film scripts, foreign languages, etc. It all shows up in how I work: with people, not just with code. You do not need to move geographically: online communities, books and remote teams broaden your world too. Isidro López · islomar.es 04 · Grow with others · 31
32. 04 · Grow with others Technology is a means to an end Start with why Find the real need Then choose the technology What are we actually trying to achieve or change? Who has the problem? What do they actually need? A request may already assume a solution. Use the simplest useful solution. The best technical solution to the wrong problem is still wrong. Isidro López · islomar.es 04 · Grow with others · 32
33. 04 · Grow with others Simplicity and focus are superpowers Do less Keep it simple Check the outcome, not the output One important thing at a time. Limit work in progress. Finish before starting more. What is the smallest thing that could solve the problem — or teach us whether we are right? Did it actually help? Did risk, behaviour or outcomes improve? If not, learn and adapt. Isidro López · islomar.es 04 · Grow with others · 33
34. 04 · Grow with others Human communication is key Written Verbal Collaboration Messages, docs, PR descriptions, tickets, incident notes. Clear writing scales. Explaining simply, listening, giving and receiving feedback, disagreeing kindly. Pair, work in ensembles, ask for help early. Software is a team sport. So is security. A tool I love: Nonviolent Communication (NVC). Isidro López · islomar.es 04 · Grow with others · 34
35. 04 · Grow with others Clear English beats perfect English Your accent is not a problem. Aim for clarity: short sentences, concrete examples, ask when you do not understand, write decisions down. Especially in security: a clear vulnerability report, incident update or risk explanation can change what people do next. Isidro López · islomar.es 04 · Grow with others · 35
36. 04 · Grow with others Careers grow in communities Agile / eXtreme Programming Values and practices that changed how I work. Software Crafters People who care about the craft. SoCraTes Unconferences where attendees set the agenda. Coders Only, Samman Online communities that I currently join from time to time Some of yours could be OWASP · BSides · CTF communities · open-source security This Zakey cohort Your professional network has already started in this cohort. Isidro López · islomar.es 04 · Grow with others · 36
37. 04 · Grow with others Find real relationships, and a mentor Real relationships, not transactional networking Be curious about people. Share a talk, blog post, kata or good question. Isidro López · islomar.es Search for a mentor Someone a few steps ahead. Bring specific questions. You drive the relationship. 04 · Grow with others · 37
38. 04 · Grow with others In a company, find your people The people who care about the same things you do: a guild*, a community of practice, a book club, a lunch table. They'll help you learn, keep you going, and make change possible. *A guild is a voluntary group of people with a common interest who join periodically to share, learn and improve together Isidro López · islomar.es 04 · Grow with others · 38
39. The journey Lessons Understand the system Grow with others 05 Stay yourself Values, intuition, and the difference between you and your job. Stay yourself
40. 05 · Stay yourself Ethics and principles above anything else (this is both very personal, contextual, and cultural) We are not different people at work. Things I learnt I don’t want to do If you would not do it outside work, “it is my job” does not make it OK. • Deceive or manipulate users • Scam people Only test systems you have written permission to test. • Build products designed to create addiction In security: what you can access and what you are authorized to access are not the same thing. • Disrespect or mistreat colleagues • Work in cultures without psychological safety Isidro López · islomar.es 05 · Stay yourself · 40
41. 05 · Stay yourself Whatever you do, do it consciously On purpose, not by inertia Listen to your intuition Check in regularly Stay or leave, accept or decline: make it a decision, not a default. Intuition is often experience you cannot put into words yet. Test it with evidence and people you trust. Am I learning? Am I OK? Is this aligned with my values? Isidro López · islomar.es Suggestion: a quarterly retrospective with yourself 05 · Stay yourself · 41
42. 05 · Stay yourself What I regret (things I would do differently) 1 Focusing too much on technology for too many years 5 Spending energy trying to change things I cannot change 2 Not daring to ask — for money, recognition and opportunities 6 Not being able to manage my frustration better, with more perspective, patience, and long-term vision 3 Not adjusting my expectations when reality didn’t match (e.g. at Spotify) 7 Not having accepted some challenges out of fear (e.g. being a CTO) 4 Working for a lottery company Isidro López · islomar.es 05 · Stay yourself · 42
43. 05 · Stay yourself What I do not regret 1 Following curiosity without a career plan 5 Not accepting disrespectful or aggressive behaviour (towards me or anyone else) 2 Changing direction — repeatedly 6 Meeting people, joining communities and events 3 Choosing learning and people over titles, money, and prestige 7 Walking away when something no longer fits 4 Sticking to my ethical principles, even when it had a cost 8 Listening to myself and stopping if needed (privilege alert!) Isidro López · islomar.es 05 · Stay yourself · 43
44. To wrap up If you only remember nine things 1 Curiosity can be a good enough compass 6 Showing your work gives you options 2 Prioritize learning first. Then dare to earn more 7 Find your communities, your people and a mentor 3 Your company is not your family 8 Focus on what matters, one thing at a time 4 Technology is a means to an end 9 Keep learning. Keep your values. 5 Human communication and relationships are key Isidro López · islomar.es Wrap-up · 44
45. Books · people · communities Resources worth your time Hacking Capitalism Lisi Hocke By Kris Nóva. A hacker’s model of the tech industry: people, computers, money and incentives. Security engineer & holistic tester. Writing and talks on product security, testing, learning and community. hackingcapitalism.io Online version lisihocke.com Isidro López · islomar.es CyberSecurity PortSwigger Web Security Academy picoCTF OWASP Juice Shop Open Security Conference Books · people · communities · 45
46. You are not your career. Your job is something you do. It's not who you are. Build your life, not only your career.
47. ! ً‫ﺷﻜﺮا‬ Questions, doubts, feedback? ☺🙏 Feedback highly appreciated: https://forms.gle/v8t7YfGfvpC9Wn8g9 Looking for a mentor? I would be honoured to mentor 2 people from this bootcamp. Just drop me an email to islomar@gmail.com Isidro López (Isi) islomar.es · linkedin.com/in/islomar · github.com/islomar islomar@gmail.com
48. Books · people · communities Further reading / people who shaped me • • • • • Eduardo Ferro • Geepaw Hill ◦ https://www.eferro.net/ ◦ https://mastodon.social/@GeePawHill ◦ https://bsky.app/profile/eferro.net ◦ https://www.geepawhill.org/ Jessica Kerr • Clare Sudbery ◦ https://jessitron.com/ ◦ https://insimpleterms.blog/ ◦ https://bsky.app/profile/jessitron.bsky.social ◦ https://bsky.app/profile/claresudbery.bsky.social Dave Farley • Kent Beck ◦ https://bsky.app/profile/davefarley77.bsky.social ◦ https://www.kentbeck.com/ ◦ https://www.youtube.com/c/ContinuousDelivery ◦ https://bsky.app/profile/kentbeck.com Charity Majors • Emily Bache ◦ https://charity.wtf/ ◦ https://bsky.app/profile/emilybache.com ◦ https://bsky.app/profile/charity.wtf ◦ https://www.youtube.com/@EmilyBache-tech-coach Jez Humble • Martin Fowler ◦ https://bsky.app/profile/jezhumble.net ◦ https://bsky.app/profile/martinfowler.com ◦ https://continuousdelivery.com/ ◦ https://martinfowler.com/ 48