I started my career, from university in 2003, as a programmer in a finance company whose IT management collectively decided that tech talent wasn't all that it

I started my career, from university in 2003, as a programmer in a finance company whose IT management collectively decided that tech talent wasn't all that it was hyped out to be (a post-tech bubble burst sentiment) and so was aggressively replacing large swaths of full time tech employees with cheap offshore consultants (TCS, InfoSys). This environment compelled me to not just develop technical skills but business knowledge and related analytical skills. The hard work paid off.