Reinventing My Career At Outbrain – Not Once, But Twice!

My first contact with the Outbrain world was around 5 years ago. I was stuck in a job I did not like, in a company where I did not feel understood or valued. One day, looking for new opportunities on LinkedIn, I came across an Account Manager position. I had never heard about Outbrain. After some research, I felt it looked like a smart and fast-growing tech company, exactly what I was looking for. Lucky me! A few days after applying, I got a call about my application. I did not know at the time but that first call would change my life forever. 

The first interviews with HR and the line manager were informative and very insightful. I felt they were trying to get to know me and help me find the best role for my skill set. What I did not know was that, days later, I would be offered a different role to the one I applied for! The General Manager from Italy rang me and said he wanted me to apply for the open Sales position… me, a salesperson?? I have always been a numbers person – I really couldn’t see myself as a sales person, but I decided to trust his gut feeling. And this is how I ended up starting my sales career. I still remember the feeling that day I got the offer, the excitement of reinventing myself professionally at 30 years of age. I was super excited! 

After a few weeks, my adventure at Outbrain started. I won’t lie, at the beginning it wasn’t  easy… Native advertising was still taboo in the Italian market. After a few years of hard work, at times self doubt, but with a lot of team support, we became a very well-established company in the Italian market and we grew as a team. 

Just as the 30-year-old me was keen for a career change and joined Outbrain, at some point later, I was ready to move to a global role. When the Onboarding Enablement position opened, I saw this as an exciting opportunity to make that change across the organization. HR did reach out to me and I applied. Even if I did not have any experience as a trainer or in HR, I found myself again being trusted with a new role, and for the second time in my life, Outbrain gave me the opportunity to reinvent myself. 

Now after almost a year in my new role, I can say with conviction that this is the perfect fit for me. I am able to help new hires on their Outbrain journey, leveraging the knowledge I have gained about the company over these years. Now, when I wake up in the morning, I am happy and enthusiastic to start another day as the Onboarding Enablement Manager. We all need a cheerleader, someone who sees the potential in us when we cannot see it ourselves. The leadership at Outbrain has that capability to see through the noise, trust people, and hire based on potential and skills, and not only experience. 

Come in and check the roles we have open today on our career page!