Associate Spotlights

Why I left Fidelity…and then came back!

Read about Timothy's career at Fidelity, what first brought him to Fidelity, his time away, and what ultimately brought him back.

February 12, 2024 3 minute read

By Timothy, Director of Site Reliability Engineering

I first joined Fidelity as a release manager in June 2007 supporting an application in the Fidelity Brokerage Technology group. In the five years I was in the role, I learned more than I could have ever possibly imagined. I truly think the bulk of my career was built within that five-year window. The most important skills I learned ranged from building web servers and scripting, to building my interpersonal skills with my teammates and leadership. During this same timeframe, I also got my Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and Project Management (PM) certifications. These are lessons and skills that I took with me and will have for the rest of my career.

I’ve always had a curious mind, so the learning and development opportunities at Fidelity were the most valuable to me. [...] the culture at Fidelity was really what made me feel fulfilled.

So, why did I leave for a short period of time?

It just wasn’t the right time for me at Fidelity to find a leadership role to grow into. I had accumulated so much knowledge, got my certifications here, and was eager to jump into a new role where I could immediately leverage these new skill sets. Even when I left, I always knew I’d be back one day.

As a few years went by, I was consistently in touch with a colleague who was still at Fidelity. I never forgot about how much I loved working on the challenging but fulfilling tech work. I didn’t forget about the amazing culture either; the people who made coming to work fun, pushed boundaries with new ideas, and were always there to support one another.

As fate would have it, I stumbled upon an open position at Fidelity for a product manager for platform engineering. I wasn’t even looking for a new job at the time but thought to myself, “Hey, why not apply and give it a shot?”. Shortly after applying and a few rounds of interviews, I was offered the position.

My new team and old colleagues welcomed me back with open arms

Again, this says a lot about the kind of culture we have here. I could’ve been socially “shunned” for leaving in the past, but instead they were happy to have me back. My team was excited to have a fresh set of eyes and my new perspective from the roles I had while away from Fidelity. New ideas are more than welcomed here, they are encouraged. It’s refreshing and empowering to work for a company that supports your personal career growth.

My favorite part about my job is that I get to push the envelope forward with the latest and greatest software and technology tools to ensure my customers have the best experience possible. The ability to innovate and problem solve is greatly appreciated by our team. We take advantage of Fidelity’s “Learning Days”, which were created to encourage technologists to take 4-5 hours to dive into a tech topic, ideally weekly, and see how we can apply it to our own work.

If a career with innovative work, a focus on learning and development, team collaboration, and experience with cutting edge technology is something that interests you, I encourage you to apply to an open role today!