Mark Greville of Workhuman is sitting in a modern office on a yellow armchair, speaking to someone off-camera.
Mark Greville, vice-president of architecture at Workhuman. Image: Luke Maxwell/Siliconrepublic.com

Why these ‘very, very underrated’ skills are important for a job in tech

13 Jan 2020

Mark Greville, vice-president of architecture at Workhuman, discusses the importance of being open to challenges for a career in tech.

What do you get when you couple an imagination with determination? The ability to take on challenges, says Workhuman’s vice-president of architecture, Mark Greville.

That mindset has stood by Greville throughout his varied career in technology spanning more than 20 years, from building a social network in 2005 to the technical design work he carries out today. And there have been plenty of challenges along the way, he tells us – some of which he “probably sought out, to some degree”.

Talking about his social network days, for example, he says: “I really didn’t know what I was doing. A lot of days I would be in a panic. But we got something built in the end.

“That was a pretty major technical challenge, but I learned a huge amount through that process. I learned a huge amount about myself and about what I could do. I would always recommend – for the most part – to try and meet a challenge head-on.”

Spreading the ‘gratitude effect’

Being open to challenges is something Workhuman looks for in its people. The tech company recently held an innovation forum, inviting idea submissions from all employees. The top three, Greville explains, go on to form part of the company’s product.

That’s why people with the right skills and attributes are essential to Workhuman’s future. “Diversity of thought is very, very important and we expect people – when they come in – to have a voice and to use that voice,” he says. “This is a place where you can make a positive impact on your co-workers, on our customers here, and we can spread the gratitude effect to the whole world at large.”

And driving those positive impacts – alongside openness to challenges – is the ability not only to understand technology, but to keep up to date with it. “Develop a habit of learning,” Greville says. “But then the other side of that is actually creativity. That’s something that’s very, very underrated in technology.”

Finally, Greville’s words of advice for anyone considering a career at the company include having a “sense of humility” and a “sense of respect”. In particular, his team is looking for “somebody who’s willing to take on challenges”.

“They say that that’s an imagination plus determination here, and that’s a core value,” he says. “And certainly, people with imagination and determination and a good background in technology would be more than welcome here at Workhuman.”

Lisa Ardill
By Lisa Ardill

Lisa Ardill joined Silicon Republic as senior careers reporter in July 2019. She has a BA in neuroscience and a master’s degree in science communication. She is also a semi-published poet and a big fan of doggos. Lisa briefly served as Careers Editor at Silicon Republic before leaving the company in June 2021.

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