Content Writing Over Engineering: Tales of Technical Storytellers

“If you feel like there’s something out there that you’re supposed to be doing, if you have a passion for it, then stop wishing and just do it.” – Wanda Sykes

Are you looking to express your creativity while pushing your technical skills to the fullest? Then this is the perfect opportunity for you. In Astera’s marketing team, we have gathered a multi-disciplinary roster of talents that dared to pursue their passion for writing over a traditional path career path in engineering.

Our culture allows our team members to grow and excel in a domain of their choice and interest. As a result, we have evolved as a dynamic team of individuals that don’t take their job as just a regular 9-5, but as a true vocation they take on every day with wholehearted enthusiasm, commitment, and excitement!

We have people from diverse academic backgrounds happily pursuing their passions in various technical, semi-technical, and business roles. The content marketing team is the most diversified of all departments, with many engineers from various disciplines that look to create insightful, innovative content that gets the word out on our offerings across a variety of digital domains.

Let’s take a look at the stories of our technical storytellers and how the switch from engineering to writing has turned out to be a rewarding journey of learning and growth for them at Astera.

• An NEDUET graduate
• Online gamer and movie buff
• Tech enthusiast

A Metallurgical Engineer from NED University of Engineering and Technology, Iqbal was introduced to the world of professional content writing by his brother, who handed him over a few of his projects because he was overloaded with work.

That was the first time he identified this hidden skill. While searching for jobs in his field, Iqbal started working for an SEO company, and there was no going back for him. Not only did he discover his passion for writing, but also learned about the potential for personal and professional growth in this industry.

Before joining Astera Software as a Content Strategist, Iqbal was working as a full-time writer, writing blog posts, articles, webpages, business proposals, newsletters, eBooks, and almost every other type of content there is for clients from a multitude of industries. But after starting to work here, he was exposed to an entirely new world of digital marketing, allowing him to add a roster of skills to his portfolio and polish the existing ones.

After three years of working in various content and digital marketing roles, Iqbal is now leading a team as a Product Manager, overlooking marketing, development, R&D, and a few other areas for data warehousing.

• An NEDUET graduate
• Reads fiction and binge-watches shows
• Swoons over traveloguers

Tehreem, an Electronics Engineer from NED University of Engineering Technology, started with a temporary job in copywriting with an intent to shift towards a career in engineering. However, the experiences she gained in the writing world made her realize that there was a world of learning and growth available in this domain, so she decided to take the reins and blaze her own path as a technical writer. Combining the passion for writing with her interest in arts, Tehreem set up the infographic and video designing department within the company while also learning at the job.

After a short switch to a digital magazine where she got a flavor of journalistic writing, Tehreem dived into the data industry by joining Astera Software as a Content Strategist. The role opened a door of opportunities for her in the domain of digital marketing, including SEO, marketing automation, email marketing, and more. Tehreem is currently serving as the Product Manager for the REST API and Data Publishing domain.

• An NEDUET graduate
• Fitness Enthusiast
• Loves to take long walks by the sea

An Electrical Engineer by qualification and a writer by choice, Tooba’s passion for writing surfaced during her undergraduate years at NEDUET while working on content projects for different student societies. Her writing skills coupled with a technical background helped her land a job at Astera Software as a Technical Writer. Initially, Tooba assumed her job role to involve product documentation, but soon, she was thrilled to realize that the organization she has landed into provides the latitude to explore the areas of one’s interest and experiment with new ideas.

Aside from product documentation, Tooba learned video production at the job and nurtured her creative skills by leading a weekly video campaign #AskAstera. Additionally, her strong command on the technical aspects of the product has also made her a key member of the Pre-Sales and technical training teams. Tooba currently works as a Customer Success Associate creating product documentation while also conducting demos and training sessions for our new hires, existing customers, partners, and prospective clients from across the globe.

• A LUMS graduate
• Foodie
• Hardcore Chelsea fan

Farhan joined Astera Software as a Technical Writer right after completing his Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from LUMS in 2020. His passion for writing stems from his love for reading since childhood. Halfway through his bachelor’s, Farhan took a couple of courses on professional writing and started working as a freelance content writer in his senior year.

During the nine months of working at Astera, Farhan has worked on multiple documentation projects as part of his core job. Over time, Farhan has also developed an interest in product training and has conducted several instructor-led sessions for new hires on different functionalities of our products. Recently, Farhan conducted the use case demonstration at Astera Data Warehousing Bootcamp at FAST-NUCES, Karachi, skillfully training an audience of over 150.

“For me, being an engineer by qualification and a writer by profession turned out to be the best combination possible. As a Technical Writer, my job allows me to use the analytical mindset of an engineer to fully understand the product and then put that understanding into words through a writer’s fingertips. At Astera, I’ve been able to polish my technical skills alongside pursuing my passion as a profession. In simple words, I’ve got the best of both worlds!” – Farhan Ahmed Khan

We are expanding our content team. If you think you have a way with words and can effectively communicate our messaging to some of the world’s leading organizations, we invite you to take the leap. We are looking for bright, driven individuals in multiple content roles in our marketing and documentation team. If you think you have what it takes, send us your resume at [email protected].