Leaving A Legacy: Samantha Stevons

This week, graduating senior Business Analyst Samantha Stevons talks about the experiences she gained from S.B.S., and how it was key to her getting the job of her dreams at Microsoft.

How do you feel about leaving Spartan Blockchain?

Honestly, I’m pretty sad about it. I feel like this is such a close-knit group, there’s only like 15 people so it definitely allowed us to grow closer with one another. Sidd got me to join back in my junior year, and he was the one that got me more interested in technology. From there, that’s where I got the interest to work within the tech industry, and how I could connect my supply chain major to Blockchain. I suddenly was trying to find a job that could connect the two.

I’ve been on three engagements, and all of them were super positive. I was with different groups of people every time, which allowed me to see how different groups of people think. Especially because a lot of people don’t have the same major as me, so it was nice to reach out from what was familiar to me. That was the most positive thing for me, that I didn’t stay pigeon-holed.

So diversifying your experiences. Was that the biggest benefit you gained from S.B.S.?

I found the most benefits from doing that, because that led to my interest in technology. It actually made me want to get a minor within I.T., so that way I could use those skills to become a better project manager. With that education I could understand when people said ‘Oh, I’m working on this’, or some of the terms they would refer to. Suddenly I was like ‘I can read it now, I can understand your language. I know what connections to make’.

From that understanding I was able to find a job that I’ve been chasing for a few years now. I think that was the biggest benefit- learning different things from different people. Each meeting that we had was like ping pong balls going off each other, and that was always super energizing.

Everyone in the organization is so smart and good at what they do. Sometimes I would sit there and go ‘How did we find these people?’. People come to us from the randomest places and fields. I remember when Kiinga came in and was like ‘Yeah, I already built something in Blockchain’ and all I could say was ‘Oh wow’. And then Parker’s over here making his own company. I had never done anything like that before, but now I was in a group with him.

So you would say S.B.S. helped you get your job?

When I was applying to my job I remember getting asked a question like ‘What does technology mean to me?’, and I responded by telling them about the organizations I was involved with. People really wanted to know what Blockchain was at the time, because they wanted to implement it into their supply chain. I was able to speak a little bit onto that, which I think helped a lot. I was able to talk about new technology they were using. My Blockchain knowledge led into a 15 minute conversation with my interviewers, and by the end we barely had time for more questions.

Blockchain’s always a good conversation starter. Not a lot of people with a business background do something like that, just in regards to Blockchain and the technical experience required to work with it. That was the some of the feedback I got, that having outside knowledge, while connecting with my I.T. minor, allowed me to speak on both sides of business and technology. They needed someone to mediate between the supply chain specialists and engineers. I tried to pitch myself into that role, highlighting how my time at S.B.S. trained me to fill that gap.

Any advice for incoming members?

I feel like this club is what you make it to be. If you put in a lot of effort, you will get rewarded. I guess my advice would be to work hard, and success will follow.

I know some of the projects we do can be vague, or you’re tackling a really big issue. A lot of people can get frustrated with the type of work we do because there’s not a lot of research on Blockchain or how it works. My advice would be to stay persistent. Reach out to those who have more experience than you within the space. Once you get it, it’s super interesting.

Anything else you want to add?

This is a club in which you’re free to explore any part of Blockchain you want. I feel like I’m never restricted here, and I can always chase my interests.