Alexander Hofstetter
@ Trivadis

Pragmatic – that probably sums me up pretty well. I would even say that my solution oriented mentality eventually led me into computer science. But already at a young age I felt the attraction of computers. I was about four years old when my oldest brother got an Amiga 500. As soon as he gave up his supremacy over it, we younger ones took over. Of course, at that age I had no idea about computers whatsoever. Nevertheless, I was excessive when it came to letting off steam on this machine. I mainly played games of course. Later, at school, I also began to write my first mini programmes. Among them was one that gave me the solution to math problems. The reason, however, was not a burning interest in the subject itself, but the effect of being able to do my homework as comfortably as possible.

When the topics of education and career choice appeared on my agenda, I didn't even know at first that you could earn money with computers. As a child, career aspirations like footballer or policeman floated through my head. But then my brother started working as a software developer. Unlike others, he seemed quite happy with his job and apparently also earned well. Those were enough reasons for me to look in that direction as well. However, this turned out to be more difficult than I had imagined. Due to my rather pragmatic school grades at that time, I had to take a detour via an apprenticeship as a retail salesman. There, however, I left nothing to chance. I graduated with top marks and immediately found a job as an information technology clerk. In my new job, I went through several stations. In a nutshell: One day I took over the vacant position of database administrator where I was able to gain my first experience. A little later I changed jobs to a company that worked with Trivadis. In my new role, I also got to know some Trivadis consultants. Their expertise really impressed me – and what can I say, that's where I wanted to go.

So, I applied and was accepted. Looking back, it was probably the best decision I could have made. At Trivadis, I was able to develop steadily over the years. Roughly speaking, my path led me from the topic of high availability to automation to big data and the cloud. I always had the opportunity to further my education according to my interests and to shape my career path. At some point, I read up on the topic of AWS Cloud practically overnight. Today, I am a product owner for this topic. I help shape the portfolio, support pre-sales activities and communicate with partner management.

While at work, I'm driven by my various tasks. When I'm at home, my pedometer keeps subtly reminding me that I should also expand my range of motion from the workplace to the toilet to the coffee machine. My football activities are now limited to watching matches of my favourite club and playing a bit of football with my friends in the hall once a week, although I take rather a passive role (not just in the footballing sense of the word ;-)) there, too. That's why I've resolved to go back to the gym 2 or 3 times a week – we'll see. At the moment, I mainly get out of my new gaming chair when my wife tells me to run errands. For example, I use short breaks during work to go shopping. On the way to the stores, I often grab my head. Suddenly I get that spark of inspiration that I had hoped for in vain at the computer. One more example of how my pragmatism proves useful time and again.

Want to write your own story?

To all job offers