Starting a new job as a senior software engineer is always an experience filled with unknowns. But my recent onboarding at a new company opened my eyes to something I hadn’t experienced before in my career: the transformative power of truly getting to know your teammates through their professional stories.
For the first time in my professional journey, I found myself in a workplace where my new team created a dedicated safe space for everyone to share their career stories. This wasn’t just the typical “tell us about yourself” icebreaker. Instead, we went deeper—sharing our career origins, the projects that shaped us, the technologies we’ve mastered, our proudest achievements, and most importantly, what we genuinely care about in our work.
What struck me most was the reciprocal nature of this process. My teammates didn’t just listen to my story; they shared their own journeys with equal openness. I learned about their educational backgrounds, their career paths, the projects that challenged them, and the technologies they’re passionate about. This mutual exchange created an immediate sense of connection and understanding.
Looking back on my career, I realized how rare this kind of intentional story-sharing actually is. In most companies I’ve encountered, new team members are expected to integrate organically over time, with colleagues gradually discovering each other’s backgrounds through casual conversations or by observing work patterns. But this approach often leaves critical context gaps that can persist for months or even years.
In my case, I’ve spent considerable time working with agile technical practices like test-driven development, pair programming, etc. I’ve served as a technical coach, and concepts like shifting left and quality testing are fundamental to how I approach software development. When my new team understands this background, my contributions and suggestions carry the right context from day one.
When people understand your professional story—your values, your experiences, your areas of expertise—your future interactions become more meaningful and productive. Comments I make about code quality or suggestions for technical practices are no longer random observations from the “new person.” Instead, they’re contextualized within my experience and expertise.
This understanding works both ways. Knowing my teammates’ backgrounds helps me appreciate their perspectives, understand their strengths, and recognize the experiences that inform their decision-making. It transforms a group of strangers into a team with shared context and mutual respect.
The experience has made me reflect on how we typically approach team integration in the tech industry. We often focus on technical onboarding—setting up development environments, explaining codebases, and reviewing processes. But we frequently overlook the human element: understanding the people we’ll be working with every day.
Creating space for story-sharing doesn’t require elaborate processes or significant time investment. It simply requires intentionality—recognizing that the people behind the code are just as important as the code itself. When we understand each other’s journeys, we build stronger, more empathetic, and ultimately more effective teams.
As I settle into my new role, I’m grateful for a team that recognized this simple truth: great software is built by people who understand and support each other. And that understanding starts with taking the time to truly listen to each other’s stories.
This experience has been so inspiring that it’s reignited my passion for writing after almost a year-long break. Sometimes the most meaningful workplace moments are the ones that remind us why we love what we do—and motivate us to share those insights with others.