From career changer to problem solver

Thomas Conrady sees himself as a problem solver in the IT department at Da Vinci. Officially he is an IT and development specialist. He takes care of the technical purchasing of software and hardware as well as project inventory, and also supports engineering projects as a developer. He helped the accounting department to introduce a digital archiving system. If there is a problem somewhere, not just in the digital area, you can call Thomas Conrady. “I’m pleased to help,” says the man in his mid-thirties, who joined Da Vinci in 2021 as a career changer. He has been interested in computers since he was a teenager and has been involved with them, but it was only in a roundabout way that he recognized and pursued computers as a calling and a career.

Following internships in agriculture and event technology, and dropping out of his linguistics and German degree, Thomas Conrady trained as a glass refiner because he finds creative craftsmanship exciting.  But the lack of future prospects in the profession caused him to change course. And that is how he found his way into IT – he worked as a self-employed person in e-sport organisation and was involved in healthy gaming.  “In order to have more stability, I decided to retrain as an application developer,” says the family man. During the covid period it was very difficult to find the required internship position. Da Vinci was one of the few companies that responded to his many applications and then hired him.  “I was well trained right from the start,” says Conrady, praising the onboarding process at Da Vinci, “and was given the chance to prove myself.”

Conrady feels welcomed and valued at Da Vinci. “The work is very varied and I can organize it myself – the main thing is that results are achieved,” he says. “I don’t want to do just one thing. I’m curious and want to learn,” says Thomas Conrady and realises that this is possible at Da Vinci. Here you have the opportunity to be utilised in a variety of ways, make contacts and network.  He likes coming to the office. “The workplace at Marienplatz in Stuttgart with a view of the city, the colleagues, the great atmosphere – it all motivates me.” And he likes the openness, humanity and internationality at Da Vinci – he knows what he’s talking about, since his mother is French, his father is American, and he moved around a lot as a child.

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