I worked at SAP, MasterCard, Gartner & LinkedIn without having a university degree

Millions of people dream of working for the world’s biggest companies.

At LinkedIn, I was earning £200,000+ a year, and the perks were RIDICULOUS!

• Stocks. (LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft)

• Private healthcare. Dental.

• Gym memberships. Free food.

• Cleaning services. Massages.

• They even paid for my egg-freezing procedure.

However, the most addictive benefit was watching people’s faces when they asked where I worked.

“Ohhh, LinkedIn!!”

For a few glorious seconds, people assume you’ve got your life together.

But the irony is that I had absolutely no business ending up there. Unlike many of my colleagues, I never went to university. I couldn’t think of anything worse!

Every major company I worked for required a degree. Yet somehow I ended up working for SAP, MasterCard, Gartner and LinkedIn anyway.

So how did that happen? The answer isn’t what you think.

Back in 2010, I had just finished school in Mannheim, Germany.

Unlike my sister, who went on to earn a Bachelor's degree, a Master's degree and eventually a PhD, I had absolutely NO DESIRE (!!) to go to university.

I was done with school. Finished. Cooked. Never again.

While my friends were filling out university applications, I was frying sausages at a kiosk by the local swimming pool and trying to figure out what the hell to do with my life.

My parents desperately wanted me to go to university. I desperately didn’t. Whilst my sister was becoming a doctor, I was becoming surprisingly knowledgeable about bratwurst. 😂

Then I stumbled across an internship opportunity at the SAP Arena. (For those unfamiliar, the SAP Arena is a concert venue. Think of it as Mannheim’s version of the O2 Arena.)

The internship paid a staggering €250 per month for a 40-hour work week. I had to work nightclub shifts at weekends to survive.

But I LOVED it!!!

Financially, it was a terrible decision, but looking back, it changed EVERYTHING. Because of three letters: SAP

A few years later, I decided to leave Germany.

I’d always dreamed of living in New York. But visas, immigration rules, and my bank balance had other ideas. So London became my Plan B (good old pre-Brexit times).

I booked a one-way ticket, checked into a 12-bed hostel near Hyde Park, and gave myself three weeks to find a job before admitting defeat and flying back home.

One (rather random) company invited me to interview for a German-speaking recruitment role. But before I’d even attended the interview, they already offered me the job! (huh?!?!)

They were enthusiastic. Suspiciously enthusiastic. Until I realised why:

They’d seen SAP on my CV.

In their minds, I’d worked for one of the biggest technology companies in the world.

But in reality, I worked for a concert venue with SAP written on the side of the building (which also was run by one of SAP’s co-founders’ sons and happened to host SAP’s annual shareholder meetings).

Did I rush to correct them? Not immediately… 🫣

I felt that the SAP connection was close enough to claim I worked at “SAP’s events division”.

What I learned is that people see SIGNALS (perception, reputation, call it what you want). And those signals shape opportunities that qualifications don't.

The moment they thought I’d worked for SAP, I became more valuable and skilled in their eyes. They didn’t even bother asking me about my qualifications. They already assumed I must be a stellar employee.

A few months later, I discovered I hated recruitment. (Not recruitment as an industry. My recruitment company. There is a difference.)

One of our clients was looking for a German-speaking junior employee. My job was to find them a candidate.

Instead, I sent them my own CV. 🤓

(Yep, that was highly inappropriate and wildly unprofessional. But if I’d applied the normal way, my application would’ve been buried…)

I over-prepared and over-delivered during the interview and got the job!!

The company was called 5one, but on my first day, I found out that they had just been acquired by MasterCard. THE MasterCard!!!

Now my LinkedIn profile read:

SAP.
MasterCard.

(Not bad for someone who’d spent her teenage years being told she wasn’t academic enough.)

Recruiters started to slip into my LinkedIn DMs. And when the time was right (aka I was in need of a pay raise), I decided to interview for a company called CEB.

I’d never heard of them. But what I did understand was that they were offering more than double my salary. 😀

I interviewed. I got the job. I turned up on day one. I discovered CEB had just been acquired by Gartner. THE Gartner!!! ($6.5Bn Tech Consultancy)

(One might say lightning never strikes twice in the same place. I might disagree.)

At this point, my LinkedIn profile looked like I’d followed some sort of genius masterplan.

SAP.
MasterCard.
Gartner.

I no longer had to convince people I was capable. The logos were already doing the talking for me. 🤓

Years later, I decided Gartner’s Wolf of Wall Street culture isn’t my vibe. So I joined a company Hootsuite.

Three months in, the tech bubble burst post-COVID, and they laid off 33% of their staff. I was still on my probation when I was made redundant. Meaning I got NOTHING. One day I was earning £180k, the next £0. (Not exactly how I’d envisioned the next chapter of my career.)

HOWEVER…. ☝🏻

LinkedIn had been watching Hootsuite’s redundancies, trying to snatch up some great (but desperate) talent. They slipped into my DMs looking for a German-speaking sales professional.

I interviewed. I was told I had the job. I was also told there was a hiring freeze, and they’d be in touch in a few months’ time (yeah, lol).

I rejoined Gartner in the meantime. (I normally don’t like warmed-up pizza, but I just bought a Tesla on finance. Not a wise financial choice in hindsight.)

Six months later, LinkedIn came back. They kept their word (who would have thought!!).

And that's how I ended up working for the blue logo.

LinkedIn was the best employer I eeeever had. The work-life balance was REAL. The friendships were REAL. The egg freezing and the £200k salary were VERY REAL.

And yet, I was working inside a HUGE operation, building someone else’s wealth.

I wanted to build something of my own. I wanted to have the freedom to rest when I was exhausted, to shift gears when I felt energised, and not to have my worth measured in quarterly targets.

So I left.

It’s been almost a year since I’ve become an entrepreneur. My income is close to what it was at LinkedIn but with more excitement, more freedom (and more uncertainty) than I’ve ever had. 🤩

On paper, my career journey looks as if I’d carefully mapped out every step. As if I’d strategically worked my way through increasingly prestigious companies and as if I’d always known where I was going.

BIG LOL!!

I was making it all up as I went along. I think most of us are. We’re just pretending otherwise.

And yeah, let’s not deny that there was luck involved.

Two times I walked into a company on my first day and found out it had just been acquired by a giant. (I wish I could teach you that.)

But luck tends to find people who are TAKING ACTION.

Here’s what you can control:

• Be visible. Keep your LinkedIn updated. Let people know what you’re doing and doing well. Those insane opportunities in my career came to ME (but only because I had made myself findable).

• Be audacious. Send the CV anyway. Approach the hiring manager directly. If you don’t ask, you will not get. 🤷🏼‍♀️

• Overdeliver. Every time I was given an opportunity (and technically wasn’t qualified), I prepared like my LIFE depended on it. That’s the part you have full control over.

I went from frying sausages at a German swimming pool to earning £200k at LinkedIn.

Every bold move I made put me in front of the right people (sending my own CV, leaning into the SAP name confusion, and updating my LinkedIn profile strategically).

Opportunities found me because I positioned myself to be found.

• So STOP hiding.

• Be PROUD of your work.

• Update your profile and make yourself SEEN.

• Be AUDACIOUS and ask for what you want.

The worst that can happen is that someone thinks you’re too keen.

And that will NEVER be a bad thing.

🧡