Committed to Success: Lillian Liang, Plastiq Inc.
By: Danielle Strang
Tags: Startup Life, Careers, Self Improvement, Engineering, Employee Experience

Lillian Liang is a Commit engineer who joined Plastiq earlier this year. We talked to her about her journey to Commit and Plastiq.

Can you tell us a bit about your journey to Commit?

I studied computer science at the University of British Columbia and graduated in 2014. Since then, I worked at a trucking management company for around two years, working with desktop applications, then I joined a social media management company, where I met a lot of people who now work at Commit. I joined Commit at the end of 2019.

What drew you to Commit?

Commit’s partnership model! I really like how Commit matches engineers to a variety of projects on three- to six-month contracts, allowing us to be fully immersed in each startup’s culture, discover our interests, and contribute right away. It takes the pressure off joining a company full time and gives us opportunity to find the right fit.

“Normally, joining a company full-time is a big commitment. There’s a huge investment of time and energy, up front. As a result, there’s inherent risk — if it doesn’t work out, you have to start again from scratch with another company.”

How did you get connected to Plastiq? Were they your first project through Commit?

Plastiq was my second project at Commit. I had a really good experience at the first, which was also in fintech, but I wanted to try another one to see what it was like. Plastiq really stood out to me because of their team. I really enjoy working with my team and with the greater Plastiq team. We have a really good set of engineers and the leadership group is really great. They’re very open, honest and direct when communicating with the company. I really enjoy working with React, and the core services and back-end are in Node. I feel confident in the work I’m doing and the impact I’m making.

How do you describe Plastiq to your friends and family?

Plastiq enables customers and small businesses to make any type of payment via credit card where they may typically not be able to. It allows small businesses to make use of their high credit limits and reap the benefits of any reward system or a point system their credit card offers.

What’s been the best part of working with Plastiq so far?

The variety of work I’ve been involved with has allowed me to work with many different engineers in our company, which is pretty amazing. I’ve worked on migrations, and some core product features in our product, and features in our internal product. So the variety has been great.

What do you think about Commit’s mission and model?

The leadership team and everyone at Commit is super supportive. That’s number one. And the projects we get to work on, the start-ups — I’ve been with two — they’ve both been really good experiences. I like how Commit does project matching, how you get paired with a project and get to test it out to see if you enjoy it and gel with the team.

Normally, joining a company full-time is a big commitment. There’s a huge investment of time and energy, up front. As a result, there’s inherent risk — if it doesn’t work out, you have to start again from scratch with another company. Commit’s model, where you get to test out projects and companies, ensures the fit is great for both parties.

What would you say to other engineers who are considering joining Commit?

I’d say definitely go for it. Everyone is very supportive and you’ll find a project that fits your capabilities, and you always have the support of the Commit community: those who have graduated, like me, and those who are still employed by Commit. And the community continues to grow.