Our products only tell half the story. At Tandem Diabetes Care, we put as much effort into standing behind our products as we do into designing them. The passion within each person who works at Tandem is apparent. From product developers and engineers, to the people on our 24/7 customer support team, everyone has the drive to succeed and the desire to make a difference in people’s lives.
We had the pleasure of learning more about Tyler Mitchell, an Associate Software Engineer who transitioned from being a Tandem intern to a full-time Tandem employee. Tyler is a valued member of the Tandem team and of the T1D community. Through a brief Q&A, we were able to discover why Tyler chose to pursue a career here at Tandem Diabetes Care and wanted to share his insight with you!
How did you find Tandem Diabetes Care?
As a person living with diabetes for 20 years, I have always valued and held an appreciation for the technology that allows me to live a normal life. Throughout my undergraduate studies I took a particular interest in developing my own versions of technology focused specifically on controlling the craziness that people with Type 1 diabetes experience every day with respect to our glucose levels. This meant that I was constantly researching the “what’s next” for diabetes treatment – which at the time, and still to this day, is completely dominated and accelerated by the technology coming out of Tandem Diabetes Care. The diabetes community’s immense support of Tandem also played a huge role in my desire to learn more about Tandem and what Tandem stands to achieve.
What made you want to intern at Tandem?
Again, as a person with diabetes myself with a passion for creating technology in the diabetes space, I jumped at the chance to make a positive impact on the diabetes community through Tandem. It has always been a dream of mine to work in the diabetes industry, and the opportunity to work for a company that has accelerated diabetes control in a never-before-seen way was an opportunity that I could not pass up.
Why did you want to stay?
After working for Tandem for five months as an intern in software engineering, I experienced a company culture that shared my passion for developing diabetes tech in a way that is truly customer-first. It was clear from the beginning that Tandem’s main objective was to push the treatment of diabetes to a place that immensely benefitted the diabetes community. Even as an intern I was seen as a valued member of our software team and was welcomed to the team with open arms. My coworkers quickly turned into friends and echoed my passion for helping the diabetes community. Each day at Tandem was full of excitement and fulfillment, given that I was working alongside incredible people, for a cause that I cared greatly for. After an incredible summer working as an intern, I was granted the opportunity to join Tandem as a full-time employee. At that time, I was enrolled in two master’s programs, which would generally be a difficult opportunity to forego, however, the experiences that I had at Tandem throughout the summer as an intern made the decision to stick around as a full-time employee an easy decision to arrive at. I have been reassured that this was the correct decision with every new day at Tandem.
What is the best part of your job?
It would be impossible for me to pick a singular “best part” of my job here, but if I had to name a few:
- I get to show up every day to work for the diabetes community, and I know that the work that I am doing will have a positive impact on the lives of people undergoing the trials and tribulations of treating Type 1 diabetes.
- I am surrounded by colleagues who truly care about people like myself who have Type 1 diabetes, and our work as a whole reflects that. We work on finding solutions to some of diabetes’ greatest challenges and each one of us works unwaveringly towards the solution that has the greatest benefit to the diabetes community.
- In 7 months, I haven’t had a day go by where I have not learned something new. Each member of our team has been more than receptive to the countless questions I have had while learning the intricacies of our devices.
Thank you, Tyler, for being willing to participate in our People Behind the Pump series and for all that you do for the company and the community! Your words help remind us of the reasons why we do what we do, every single day.
If you or someone you know is interested in starting a career with Tandem Diabetes Care, please be sure to check out our Careers site for more information.
