Where They Are Today

If you're wondering what you—as an Oracle employee—will be doing a few years from now, check out our portrayals of whom we hire and where they are today. Here, in their own words, some previous College recruits tell you what attracted them to Oracle, what kept their interest, and of course, what exciting projects they are working on. And along the way, they share some of their best memories and some words of advice for you as you start your exploration of opportunities at Oracle. Enjoy meeting them!

School Graduated: CMU Class Year: 2007 Senior Product Manager, Oracle Fusion Enterprise Contracts

Words of Wisdom

Describe your best memories here.
When I first came to Oracle HQ for my on-campus interview, I thought that I should get into Oracle at least to savor the beauty of the campus. The gym, the cafes, Toastmaster's club, and other sports and activities make the environment fun and lively. This is one of the places where you can walk into a meeting room right after an hour's yoga. You get the opportunity to build products for your customers but also to give back to society through Oracle Volunteering. You also get the chance to interact with your school juniors during the interns' welcome party and career fairs.

At work, although I was new to product management, my peers and higher-ups trusted me and gave me the responsibility to design product features soon after I joined. I can never forget my first product design presentation to our team; everybody welcomed my ideas and provided their valuable feedback.

Describe your current position at Oracle.
I began my career as an application developer in software consulting. I wanted to do something more influential and something that has a stronger impact on the business. That is what I do today as a product manager—design powerful product features that can enable businesses to function more effectively and lucratively. I interact with talented people across multiple functional teams, cultures, job roles, and designations on a daily basis. I also have the valuable opportunity to learn from our customers about how they use our products and how to improve our product based on their needs. It is an amazing experience to see how your brainchild is being applied in businesses worldwide!

School Graduated: CMU Class Year: 2008 Member of Technical Staff, Storage Technology (Currently called Exadata)

Words of Wisdom

What attracted you to Oracle?
The promise of working on an unreleased product that we knew was sure to make exciting splashes in the industry (Exadata). I also found Oracle to be one of the most logical extensions to my graduate studies and field of specialization.

Describe your best memories here.
My best memory was when I and all the other members of my team wore our Oracle team caps in unison as Larry Ellison stood before us on the big stage in front of a huge audience and announced the world's fastest database machine at Oracle Open World 2008. This was my first experience at Oracle Open World, and the grandeur of the whole event made it worth remembering. I was later told by some of the veterans in my team that our team's product launch was the most exciting one in several years. I was at that time only a few months old at Oracle, and although my contribution to the team was quite small, I felt proud to have professionals from the industry talk and inquire about our work.

School Graduated: Stanford University Class Year: 2006 Senior Applications Engineer, Fusion Financials

Words of Wisdom

What is it about the Oracle environment that has maintained your interest?
The work environment is extremely flexible. The focus is on getting results, but the actual work style differs from person to person. We have the opportunity to work remotely, to choose from a huge variety of delicious food at lunch, to use the Oracle gym (probably the best you'll find in Silicon Valley), or just simply take a break and stroll around the lagoon.

Describe your current position at Oracle.
I am currently a Senior Applications Engineer working on Financial Applications. I develop Web-based applications which are used by huge organizations around the world, and I have the opportunity to be involved at every level of the application, from the database to the front-end UI development. But the best part of my job is definitely the work environment and the people with whom I work. I feel that the particular skills which I bring to the team are truly appreciated, and this helps to create a productive environment where I can make great contributions.

School Graduated: Cornell University Class of 2007 Senior Software Engineer, Data Visualization Tools

Words of Wisdom

Describe your best memories here.
Two of my best memories at Oracle came during two conferences that I attended in 2008, JavaOne and Oracle OpenWorld. At JavaOne, our senior VP was giving a keynote, showing off the latest and greatest of Oracle Fusion Middleware. I knew my component was going to be featured in the demo, but it wasn't until I saw it on the big screen in the Moscone Center that it really hit me. There I was, sitting among hundreds of people watching my work from the last year. It's an amazing feeling, and luckily the demo went without a hitch.

The second moment came at Oracle OpenWorld, Oracle's big annual conference in San Francisco. This time, I was working a booth at the demo grounds, showing off our stuff. It was a fun experience, and people seemed genuinely impressed by our product, but what was really memorable was when a customer came up to me asking about the specific component on which I worked. As software engineers, I think we all want to create great software that lots of people are going to use. This was the first time I had met a customer from another company in person, and it was only then that I really understood that all the hard work was worth it—since real people were benefiting from it.

What is it like working in Burlington, MA instead of HQ?
I think one of the things that people don't tend to know about Oracle is that we have offices in many places besides Redwood Shores, such as Colorado, Texas, New Hampshire, and Burlington, Massachusetts, where I work. One of the great elements about working in Burlington, where there are hundreds of developers rather than thousands, is the small company feel and camaraderie. It's a great place to work and live.

School Graduated: Caltech Class Year: 2006 Senior Member of Technical Staff, System Management Products

Words of Wisdom

What attracted you to Oracle?
Oracle's worldwide recognition for developing top-class software products, a group of highly intelligent and smart co-workers, an informal and casual atmosphere, and good campus facilities attracted me to Oracle. Oracle's work environment where employees can work independently at their own convenience was very appealing. At Oracle, everyone is results-oriented, and productivity is what counts at the end of the day. The resources and support Oracle provides to promote personal and career growth of employees made choosing Oracle an easy decision for me.

Describe your first job at Oracle.
I had a very easy time shifting gears from the academic world to the corporate environment. My team members did a great job of welcoming me into the group and making me feel comfortable. As a college recruit, I was not expected to produce results right away and was given enough time to catch up on Oracle technologies. People were inviting me for lunch and showing me around. I had a great time during the first few weeks of joining Oracle.

School Graduated: Brown University Class of 2003 Consulting Member of Technical Staff, ADF / JDeveloper

Words of Wisdom

What attracted you to Oracle?
I still remember the Projects at Oracle book that was shown to me when I visited the Oracle career booth and being amazed by the number of projects and technology areas in which Oracle was involved. What struck me the most is that Oracle had projects that were strikingly similar to what I was working on in college. When I interviewed on campus, I met many employees whose work encompassed my areas of research. It excited me to know that I could graduate but still work on the research and problems that interested me.

What is it about the Oracle environment that has maintained your interest?
Oracle has a winner's attitude. We are not out to make mediocre software; we are out to beat the competition and make sure they have a lot of catching up to do.

Oracle has an impressive lineup of technologies, and it's amazing to see the amount of resources available to employees. Usually, whenever I have an issue with a technology, product, or even competing software, there is always a colleague available to me who is an expert in that field.

It is also very true that there is hardly a dull day at Oracle. There is always something happening to pique your interest or warrant your attention and expertise. How many people can truly say that they are genuinely excited to go into work every morning?

School Graduated: CMU Class of 2002 Director of Global Partner Pricing, Global Practices

Words of Wisdom

Describe your first job at Oracle.
My first job here at Oracle was a lot of fun. The Oracle Healthcare Transaction Base (HTB) group was new and was hiring a lot of bright college recruits that year. It was a motivated team with the goal of making a difference by providing a robust, innovative software product to the Healthcare market. The Healthcare industry was in dire need of eliminating manual recording of patients' data and improving its efficiency in handling day-to-day operations, so we saw a great need for our product.

Describe your current position at Oracle.
I am currently Director of Global Partner Pricing and work with teams in development, business practices, and alliances to properly strategize and execute our partner pricing models. Oracle Partners are an important source of revenue to Oracle, especially outside North America, so this position is important and visible. I am able to meet and interact with senior management in various organizations, which is an extremely good educational experience. I feel that my strong development background is an advantage to me even in such a nondevelopment role. I believe that knowing the finer technical details I learned as a software engineer and also understanding the big picture of Oracle's business will help position me in the future to make more significant contributions at Oracle.

School Graduated: MIT Class of 2001 Software Development Manager, Beehive (Enterprise Collaboration Platform)

Words of Wisdom

What attracted you to Oracle?
People tend to think Oracle is merely a database company. Wrong—Oracle has any CS / IT / software-related technologies or products and is always leading or in the forefront of the latest technology trends... I admit that I held the same misconception when I started to find an industry job. My long-time fascination is in the wireless and mobile field. I believe mobility is not just a buzzword, like others that keep popping up but go nowhere or simple burst. This is something that will touch and change every human being's daily life. I had conducted extensive, mobile-related research projects while at MIT and planned to find a job in this field. To my surprise, Oracle is heavily mobilized and even has a dedicated division, called Oracle Mobile, which is like a spin-off but still funded by Oracle. I got both the startup-like, fast-paced chemistry that I enjoy and the stability of a tech behemoth that I need.

I joined Oracle Mobile without hesitation, and oops, I stayed in this division for more than 5 years and still love what I am doing.

Describe your current position at Oracle.
Right now, I am a Project Lead in the Beehive department, Oracle's next-generation enterprise collaboration platform. I am responsible for building a cutting-edge mobile platform and related applications that run on small handheld devices. It is an awesome experience to see people as influential as corporate executives using the product built by me for their daily business needs.

School Graduated: University of California, Berkeley Class of 1983 Senior Director, Beehive Development

Words of Wisdom

Describe your best Oracle memories.
We were working on a Newsroom of the Future prototype for the National Association of Broadcasters Convention (NAB) in Las Vegas. The project was a partnership with Sony; Oracle provided the software, and Sony provided the hardware. Since everything was still in development, all the pieces didn't quite fit well together. A week before the convention, we never left the hotel, working at a pretty furious rate. We got it all working the day before Larry Ellison saw it. The first night after the convention opened, we celebrated with the most fantastic dinner in Vegas for the whole team. The best part was no one on the team ever doubted that we wouldn't be ready when the doors opened!

Any other words of advice?
You will be challenged! Shipping product requires overcoming numerous obstacles—some technical, many others not. Bring your sense of humor, your enthusiasm, and your energy. To be successful, you'll learn what teamwork really means.

School Graduated: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Class of 2002 Principal Business Strategy Manager, Applications

Words of Wisdom

Describe your current position at Oracle.
My current position involves strategic business planning for the Applications division. My group provides key business insights/analysis about our Applications division to upper management. The role is similar to that of internal consulting at other companies. The work provides me with an opportunity to learn about the business without necessarily going into the details of any particular domain or product. With several acquisitions taking place at Oracle and Oracle's growth plan, my team's work plays a very important role in the overall success of the Applications division. To be able to contribute in a way that will have such a positive impact on an organization gives me tremendous satisfaction and motivation.

Any words of advice?
If you are interested in plotting a career path that will catapult you to the "who's who" in enterprise software engineering, Oracle is a great place to be mentored. Plenty of college recruits have gone on to take up leading positions both within the company as well as the industry in general.

School Graduated: Stanford University Class of 1989 Product Director, Oracle Projects, Oracle Applications

Words of Wisdom

What is it about the Oracle environment that has maintained your interest?

1. Dynamic environment; very demanding, yet fulfilling.
2. Very bright people.
3. Provides opportunities to meet individual goals while achieving team objectives.
4. See the evolution of building a product and how it continues to expand the solution that we provide.
5. Be part of/help architect such a product.

Opportunities to be involved in all parts of the software development cycle/process throughout my years at Oracle—engineer, product analyst, product manager, development manager, group manager.

Please describe your current position at Oracle.
Director of the Oracle Projects development team. I do have a great, AWESOME job. I've been through the ranks of application engineer, product analyst, product manager, and development manager, so have seen the different aspects of the cycle of creating and rolling out a product, specifically Oracle Projects.

In my current position, I can take those experiences and help drive the product toward the vision that we have set out... and right now, it's just a matter of execution. We have great market support; clients are just waiting for us to continue to deliver more of the solutions that they seek.