Consulting at Veeva Is Different — And Here Is Why
How my Marketing Internship led me to Business Consulting at Veeva
By: Tara Levine, Associate Business Consultant
I was 10 when I watched a man slip and fall, hitting his head on the concrete when trying to get out of a pool. As I cleared lounge chairs out of the way to make room for the ambulance, it was that moment when I decided to become a lifeguard. Five years later, that was my first job. I wish I had a similar epiphany or inspiring story about how I chose Veeva, but I’m afraid that’s far from the truth.
Suppose we fast forward from the 15-year-old lifeguard to the 19-year-old college sophomore. In that case, we’ll see a strong precedent in marketing and public relations (PR), working for an organization to help local Boston organizations and clubs at my university with all their PR needs. Underneath the logos and press releases, people had drive and passion, looking for opportunities to share their experiences with others to make the world a bit brighter.
I realized I liked working with people, but I knew marketing, so I got my foot in the door at a consumer robotics company where I worked in their marketing department. I sat in the corner of a row of cubicles, my back to an office wall facing my manager. The woman who occupied the office would often talk to my manager and me over time.
She was a kind, compassionate, and witty person whose mind moved faster than people could follow. I found myself drawn to her and others on her team, whose knowledge I had yet to tap and who were welcoming in nature. The team members made technical learning easy, and I found myself invested as my time in marketing came to a close.
When I moved into the operations group, the woman in the corner office ran; she recognized my love of people before I did and gave me ample opportunities to explore the way people work together. It was then that I fell in love with the process as a whole and the ability to connect people to maximize their well-being and value simultaneously.
As I left the company, she told me to consider consulting, a way to help people with a process on a larger scale. I laughed and told her I wanted to be at one company to help them consistently improve so I could leverage my existing intel about their process.
But when looking for new opportunities, I stumbled across Veeva. I had glanced at consulting firms in passing, but I liked that Veeva wasn’t just consulting — it was an established SAAS in the Life Sciences industry, leveraging their expertise to their existing and new client base. I realized it wasn’t about helping the same people but having a constant. I love the ongoing change, adaptability, and breadth of knowledge that consulting has. Still, I find my learning and ability to help accelerated by a constant foundation found in Veeva’s industry and the continuity of their customers. I work with global companies to help their process at many levels, working with new teams and implementing new techniques to solve their pain points.
But for me, the people are always the most important and exciting part of my career, and I am lucky enough to have found another constant-the amazing people here at Veeva.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Veeva.
