Eight Years of Guidewire: Shane's Career Journey

Hi I'm Shane, I'm currently a technical lead within Guidewire's Customer and Cloud Operations (CCO) team based in Ireland.

I mostly work from home but occasionally I enjoy going to Guidewire's EMEA Headquarters in Dublin, as this allows me to stay in touch with my colleagues in person.

Navigating The Working World

I found Guidewire at a career fair in Dublin during my final year at university. It was important for me to meet people in the industry while looking for my first software engineering job, so I went to this career fair and got to hand over my resume in person to some technology companies in Dublin.

Guidewire stood out because of the variety of positions available. In particular, a graduate consultant developer role within the Guidewire Services Center (GSC). I liked that this role would involve working in software development as part of a global team, customizing Guidewire software products to meet the unique business needs of each customer. I also felt that it would open many more opportunities for me down the road.

The Journey So Far

I joined Guidewire eight years ago in 2014, as soon as I finished my final year of university. The interview process was thorough but fair, lasted about three weeks, and I was thrilled to have a job offer ready when I graduated. My first role was as a graduate consultant developer based in the Dublin office, during which I received excellent training and mentoring from my first day. This was a valuable experience and allowed me to progress into more senior positions within the GSC.

The Dublin office is very diverse and I've made friends there from all over the world. Some friends have left Guidewire or relocated back to their home countries, but we still meet occasionally.

After four years, I transferred to the Guidewire office in Toronto, Canada.

While in Canada, I moved over to the CCO team where I could apply my existing knowledge and develop it even further. After two years in Canada, I relocated back to Ireland in 2020, and I have my eyes on our Madrid office in the near future.

What A Difference A Year Makes

I'm happy to say that every year was different because I worked on various projects and travelled to other Guidewire offices around the world. My favorite part about working here is that I have the freedom to follow my own interests, to take control of my own career path and that Guidewire has an abundance of opportunities for me to grow. Our technology is quite complex and constantly evolving. For example, Guidewire has become a cloud software provider in recent years through the Guidewire Cloud Platform, so another great part about working at Guidewire is that I'm always learning and feel excited about the future.

I can't say where I'll be in five years, but I'm looking forward to the journey ahead.

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