Transformation Starts with Us

The future of the financial industry is in our hands. As engineers building the tools and services to give everyone the freedom to manage their money how and when they choose, we face unique opportunities — and enjoy endless chances for impact. We combine our compassion for customers with a deep commitment to safety and security, and we’re building creative solutions while impacting the global conversation around personal finance for all.

We recently sat down for a virtual cup of coffee with Sejal, Xuan, and Jacquetta who are members of our Women in Tech Employee Resource Group (ERG), and they’re sharing their stories of growth and opportunity at Robinhood.

• Sejal Parmar (She/Her/Hers) — Backend Engineer on Options Platform, Menlo Park, CA
• Jacquetta Woods (She/Her/Hers) — Licensed Customer Experience Representative, Lake Mary, FL
• Xuan Zhang (She/Her/Hers) — Senior Engineer on Crypto Platform, Menlo Park, CA

Share your story of personal and professional growth at Robinhood.

Sejal: I’m a new grad backend engineer (UIUC ‘21), so coming to Robinhood, I really wanted to optimize for learning. When you’re starting out your career, there’s always so much to learn, and the community has been really good at balancing responsibility and independence with giving support. So far, I’ve been at Robinhood for just about 2 months, so I’m still onboarding onto my team, but I still have a say on where my interest lies and what types of projects will best contribute to my personal growth. When it comes to figuring out what I want to do with my career, I’ve been able to interface with many different roles and have recurring 1:1s to learn about what others are working on and if that would be interesting for me as well. Onboarding has also been structured well to make sure I’m getting experience in multiple parts of the codebase, and I feel like I’m already growing as an engineer.

Jacquetta: I joined Robinhood’s Customer Experience Team in the midst of the 2020 pandemic. At that time, I felt it was very important for me to really hone in on myself and find purpose, not only personally, but also within my professional career. Thus, I excitedly accepted a position to join Robinhood as they set out to enhance their customer experience team and platform. During my time here, I’ve had the opportunity to provide potential and existing customers with exceptional services. My day-to-day consists of identifying customer needs, responding to customer inquiries, and collaborating with internal teams to optimize the customer experience while enhancing the Robinhood brand.

Xuan: I joined the Software Platform team in 2020, when Robinhood saw an unprecedented customer growth during the pandemic, and transferred to the Crypto Platform team in 2021. I witnessed and contributed to the great efforts Robinhood put in to increase the reliability of the overall technical infrastructure and of individual products. In Crypto, I had the honor to drive sprint planning to strengthen our platform. For myself, I learned to step out of my comfort zone, build trust with managers and teammates, and align the success of team members with company-level goals. These are all invaluable lessons in my career development path.

How has this helped to shape your experience as a Robinhoodie?

Jacquetta: As a Licensed CXR Agent at Robinhood, I’ve been able to apply my licenses, skills, knowledge and experience to various facets of my day-to-day activities. Robinhood does a wonderful job of recognizing my talents beyond common broker duties. Because I have an immense understanding of the securities industry as a whole, I am able to really focus my talents on building and pushing Robinhood towards becoming a household product for all. The value that I am able to provide during my day-to-day role align directly with my ultimate career goal as I continue to create new avenues of interest and advancement. While I am not defined by my professional successes, it certainly feels amazing to absolutely love what I do and the company that I work for!

Xuan: In Robinhood, I onboarded to all sorts of open-source technologies, and learned how to make tech/roadmap decisions in such a fast-growing company. The experience of driving sprint planning gives me a great opportunity to practice my leadership skills, understand more context of the system, and make a larger impact. Personally, I joined Robinhood while I was expecting, and transferred to a new team right after I came back from maternity leave. I got incredible support from each of my managers and peers. As a mom of two kids, I feel I am at my best at work and on my way to realize my true potential.

Sejal: As a new engineer who’s starting her career, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed or get imposter syndrome sometimes, but my time at Robinhood so far has given me so much more confidence in my own ability and worth as an engineer. Robinhood is a place that moves fast, and there’s always something new to focus on, so I know I’ll get opportunities to make my skill set more versatile by trying projects that touch areas that I’ve never worked on before. Feedback is especially important to me, and I’ve realized that everyone here is willing to have growth conversations that shape my goal setting both personally and professionally.

We’re transforming the future of finance — what does that mean to you and how does that impact what you do at Robinhood?

Xuan: When I got the Robinhood offer, I got a chance to talk to our COO, Gretchen. I was attracted to how the company operates and the mission to democratize finance for all. After I joined, my confidence in the company kept increasing after witnessing our strong focus on customers and efforts to move big rocks for new products and features. I think Robinhood is still at a very early stage in its long-term mission to transform the future of finance. I am excited to be part of Robinhood’s journey to democratize more financial products for customers, and looking forward to growing with the company.

Sejal: I joined Robinhood because I believed in the mission of democratizing finance for all. As someone who started using Robinhood at 18, I’ve seen the company grow from a user perspective, so it’s incredible to have the opportunity to be working on an options team behind the scenes of a product I use pretty much every day. As a backend engineer, I still see so much radical customer focus in terms of constantly striving to put out the best product we can. Going from being a user to being an engineer, it’s especially cool to hear about all the different possibilities for new features that would open up accessibility to even more people. We’ve already disrupted the future of finance in so many ways, and I can’t wait to see where we continue to go.

Jacquetta: We ARE transforming the future of finance! I fully believe in the advocacy and promotion of financial literacy and education. More specifically, I have a passion for breaking down financial jargon, simplifying complex financial topics, and providing digestible market information to everyone! I honestly feel that Robinhood is home… it is where I belong! The mission speaks to me and what I stand for. I am so thankful for the opportunity to continue shaping the future of finance and democratizing finance for all!

We’re growing and looking for…

We continue to hire Robinhoodies at a rapid pace to drive this journey, and with that growth comes necessary change. We’re seeking culture builders and curious thinkers looking to co-author the next chapters of our story. We’re in build mode, majorly expanding our team while also growing up as a company. Joining now means helping shape our structures and systems, then taking part as we launch into our ambitious future.

We are always looking for more individuals who share our commitment to building a diverse team and creating an inclusive environment as we continue in our journey in democratizing finance for all. Check out our open positions — we can’t wait to hear from you!

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