Beyond the Resume: Soft Skills That Shaped My Career Across Startups and Adobe

Over the past four years, I’ve searched for jobs and landed roles at startups ranging from ten-person teams to 300+ person companies, navigated a layoff, and most recently landed at Adobe. Along the way, I learned that while technical skills matter, they weren’t always what made me stand out. More often, it was how I communicated, took ownership, navigated ambiguity, showed initiative, understood customers, and thought about the product. In this talk, I’ll share real stories from my job searches and experiences on the job, and how these skills helped me stand out in interviews, land offers, and hit the ground running once I started. Whether you’re a student preparing for your first role or an engineer navigating your next move, you’ll walk away with concrete, practical ways to build the skills that can make a real difference in your job search and career.