Why Itai Chose to Work with Okra
After a great engineering career at Rapyd, a global payments network, Itai Hirsch joined Okra. He shares why he chose to work with Okra in this article.
How did your engineering career start?
In 2017, a few years after I figured my early career path, I got a job at Reblaze—a cyber security firm. The firm is located in the Hezrilya area of Israel. I enjoyed the experience, as it prepared me for a more exciting journey in the fintech space. Did I mention my name, by the way? I am Itai Hirsch, and I currently work as a senior software engineer at Okra.
Why did you leave cybersecurity for fintech?
That's an interesting one, and I can't say for sure. However, a couple of months before my first anniversary at Reblaze, I started to compare career paths in cybersecurity and fintech. For some reason, the thought of switching to fintech came up because, from the outside, it looked fast-paced, and I loved that. Thankfully, I was not disappointed.
After doing some research, I discovered that the fintech space was indeed growing fast, both for individuals and companies.
So, I think that was the key motivation. And not long after those thoughts, I got a new job at Rapyd, and it served as a good launchpad for my entry into fintech.
Today, you're with us at Okra. Can you share why?
Sure. As I mentioned earlier, one of the key reasons for joining the fintech space is the fast-paced environment. It's always amazing to watch how products get released quickly. Sometimes, you even take a step back to ask if you're the one creating such magic. Okra has that energy!
Also, it's only natural to move from one global company to another or one with the potential to go global in a few years. Do you know what I mean? Joining Okra early, I can see first-hand the impact of the work we do as the company scales. With Okra, I am on that path. We currently serve African digital banks and fintechs, but we have global aspirations which I love.
Finally, I love my team members, and I think I fell in love long before I fully joined. From the early interactions to the interview process and onboarding, everything was smooth, which convinced me that I had made the right choice. To be clear, I have never experienced such a comprehensive yet warm and welcoming interview process as I did with Okra.
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What excites you about Okra?
Two things, in particular, the structure and goal. I am still in awe that though I work from Mexico, everything goes on smoothly. The operational structure is well organized which allows anyone to deliver their quota from anywhere in the world. Although, I look forward to visiting Lagos, Nigeria—the headquarters of Okra.
→ Do you want to work with Okra? We are hiring!
Would you like to work with Okra?
We are constantly in search of brilliant minds to work with us. Wherever you are in the world, we want to work with you. To apply, follow these steps:
- Visit this page.
- Search for a role you love.
- Apply, and we'll get back to you.
Itai looks forward to working with you. 💚
→ Read This: Adesola left Google to work at Okra.
