Diversity, equality and inclusion should be super important topics for all of us. Not just to have more diverse perspectives in a team or company. Being inclusive needs to be “built-in” in our actions, not just an afterthought. And equal pay should be the standard for equal work – it’s that simple. These are fundamental principles around how VMware operates. And while we do a lot from a corporate perspective, I believe every individual action contributes to the greater good.
September 2022 marked twelve years at VMware for me. I have the privilege to work with so many amazing people across organizations and get to see so many interesting things in my daily work. Also, I am always inspired when I meet all these great people from really diverse (lots of non-tech) backgrounds that come together in IT – and how this diversity makes literally everything so much better! I’d love give something back, share my experience – and also listen and learn from all the fantastic experiences and perspectives out there.
Tell me more… what experience can you share, Bjoern?
For those of you that don’t know me. I studied computer science and telecommunications, I was a user (and VMware customer) for several years, I support customers on their overall digital transformation journey as well as specific IT projects, I am a regular speaker at various types of events, I host a podcast, I also get to host a regional meetup around cloud-native technologies such as Kubernetes but I also get to spend time in practical Design Thinking exercises. My current role is Principal Technologist at VMware and I am part of the leadership team for Central Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Here is my offer to you!
I have been thinking about how to help people outside of VMware with their career in tech and I decided to offer one hour every week as an “Open Networking Hour” (if you have a better name, let me know :)) to anyone on my network or e.g. on my network’s network. What do I mean by that? Someone you know (or you!)…
- … is looking for ideas or insights around how to start or build out a career in tech?
- … might not really understand what a certain job in tech actually is about and that many don’t require programming or computer science backgrounds at all?
- … wants to know more about VMware or about working at VMware?
- … would benefit from an introduction to someone on my network?
- … just wants to bounce ideas?
How do we do this?
Let’s have a chat! I set up a calendly account and offer 2x 30min slots each week. Once you sign up there, you’ll get a link to a zoom meeting for the date you selected. And to strengthen diversity specifically, one of the two 30min slots is reserved for females or non-binary people: https://calendly.com/bbrundert
To all my fellow VMware colleagues that are interested in something similar, please feel free to reach out via our internal channels!
I am really excited to see where this goes and look forward to hopefully lots of interesting conversations! Don’t be shy!