How an Unexpected Conversation Led Me to Veeva
by Cara Spencer, Associate Consultant
When I was a sophomore in college, I wandered into a career fair quite by accident. It was rather small, contained within a large conference room and I would have left immediately had a recruiter not smiled and welcomed me into the fair. I wandered around the room for a few minutes, looking at the various companies that were represented that were all familiar to me, until I landed at a table covered in a bright orange tablecloth for a company I had never heard of before — Veeva Systems. The resulting conversation with the Veeva recruiter left me eager to apply to Veeva when I graduated, 3 years after that day of the career fair. I want to share why Veeva was my top choice when I graduated — my ‘Why Veeva’:
- Veeva offered the perfect intersection of technology and life sciences. I attended the University of Michigan for a degree in Biomedical Engineering, but I knew pretty early on that I did not want to go the typical mechanics/med device route. I also knew from experience in a research lab that while I initially was set on R&D, I would not do well in a research setting. I was struggling to figure out what to do with my degree when I talked with Veeva, and immediately it felt like pieces clicked. Veeva was the perfect way for me to utilize my technical skills and background in life sciences without being purely engineering. The nature of technical consulting also meant that I would not be doing the same things every day and that I’d be exposed to so many different areas of the life sciences industry — all of which was exactly what I was looking for when I didn’t know I was looking for it.
- Veeva was one of the few companies I talked to that offered a development program intended for college graduates and people new to working full time. The Consultant Development Program (CDP) is a unique program that starts you working on client-facing projects after onboarding but also offers resources and support during the unique transition that is full time college student to full time employee. I had the opportunity to be part of a small living-learning community my freshman year of college, so I knew how much of a difference a smaller environment designed to support you could make. I loved the idea of an environment where I could learn and develop technical and consulting skills, especially since I (like most people) had no idea what a technical consultant did. Now that I’m in CDP, I certainly take advantage of all the learning opportunities that are available to you as an associate consultant.
- It was immediately clear to me when talking to the recruiter that Veeva values company culture. In fact, one of Veeva’s 4 company values is Employee Success — which translates to an environment where everyone shares the same work ethic and values but also has, and encourages, fun together. After 4 years of engineering at the University of Michigan — it was important to me that I found a company where work-life balance was encouraged, and I could easily collaborate with my team and colleagues. From the initial conversation with a recruiter to my final interview with the CDP Program Director, my interviews felt like conversations rather than interviews. Everyone genuinely tried to make a connection with me and valued me fitting in socially just as much as technically, and since CDP starts you in cohorts rather than an individual onboarding you get the ability to develop meaningful connections from Day 1. I genuinely enjoy working with my colleagues each day and look forward to the events when we can gather in person. I have a manager who actively works to create opportunities for me that challenge me to be a better consultant, and I have mentors and team members who will hop on calls without a moment’s notice when I ask them for help. It sounds cliché when I write it, but you’re more than just a numbered employee working behind a computer screen all day at Veeva.
After nearly 2 years as an Associate Consultant here, I can confidently tell you that I made the right choice. Working for Veeva has been an amazing experience and the relationships I’ve built here will transcend forever, and I can’t wait to see what my coming years here have in store.
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.
