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Shiren Vijiasingam
Shiren Vijiasingam
00:38

Shiren Vijiasingam

Instructure

San Diego, CA USA

"Always pursue the things you dream even if no one else thinks you can."

Career Roadmap

Shiren's work combines: Education, Technology, and Accomplishing Goals

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Day In The Life

Chief Product Officer

I help build tools to make learning easier for students and teachers.

03:00

Day In The Life Of A Chief Product Officer

My Day to Day

My day is a blend of collaboration and innovation. I focus on developing tools that enhance learning experiences for students and educators. I spend time interacting with end users, primarily students, to gather feedback and understand their needs. I work with my team to prioritize and develop impactful products, and I partner with organizations to support diverse learning journeys. Engaging with educational stakeholders, I ensure our products meet requirements and drive our company’s growth.

Skills & Education

Advice for getting started

I've run into people who've told me I can't do something or that I haven't taken the right path. Sometimes it's even from within that I hear that Noise. It's important to challenge that and fight back. If someone says I can't do something, it propels me to fight back and show them that I can do it. What's the worst that can happen if you try something? Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't work. But even when it doesn't work, you learn things that you can apply to your next challenge.

Here's the path I took:

  • High School

  • Bachelor's Degree

    Communications

    St. Cloud State University

  • Graduate Degree

    Interactive Media

    Quinnipiac University

Learn more about different paths to this career

Life & Career Milestones

I've taken a lot of twists and turns

  • 1.

    My background is in software and coding but I was also really drawn to the creative side of things, so I decided to pursue an education in television production.

  • 2.

    I started my career in television production doing things like TV news shoots and music concert shoots.

  • 3.

    In the TV production field, I worked a lot of nights and weekends which wasn’t something I wanted to keep doing as I thought about starting a family.

  • 4.

    I pivoted and joined a company that was doing web video production where I got to utilize my software skills and my production experience.

  • 5.

    I found myself leaning into my curiosity and asking a lot of questions, so people suggested I look into a career in product management where those qualities would be strengths.

  • 6.

    I took their advice and proceeded to build my career in product management, working for companies like The College Board, Weight Watchers, and General Assembly.

  • 7.

    Now, I work as the chief product officer for Instructure, the educational technology company that created the learning management system Canvas as well as other learning tools.

Defining Moments

How I responded to discouragement

  • THE NOISE

    Messages from Peers:

    You can't do this. You haven't taken the right path.

  • How I responded:

    I've run into people who've told me I can't do something or that I haven't taken the right path. Sometimes it's even from within that I hear that Noise. It's important to challenge that and fight back. If someone says I can't do something, it propels me to fight back and show them that I can do it. What's the worst that can happen if you try something? Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't work. But even when it doesn't work, you learn things that you can apply to your next challenge.

Experiences and challenges that shaped me

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  • I was born in Malaysia. My parents weren't familiar with the education system, so I had to figure a lot of it out on my own.

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