One Thing I Wish I Knew Before Starting My Career

By: Stephanie David, Associate Consultant

If you had told 18-year-old Steph, who was a Classics major without a clue what consulting was, that in five years she would be working as a consultant for a software company, she’d probably have laughed and said “yeah right!”

During my first year of college, I switched my major to become a science teacher. I wanted young women to know that they could be interested in science and to make that possibility accessible to them. I have a firm belief, even today, that access to education is one of the most important things that you can have to be successful.

Throughout college, I volunteered and eventually took an internship with an organization called ‘Let’s Get Ready’. This organization helps students from low-income backgrounds with their SATs and college applications. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, working for this organization was incredibly important to the work I do today. If not for any of the soft skills I learned from managing the program, then for the mere fact that we used Salesforce.com to track volunteers, students, and progress. I loved that our business processes were more efficient by using Salesforce. This meant that I could spend more time doing what mattered most — helping many students access education. Although I used Salesforce as an end-user like a pro, I still felt that a career in technology was inaccessible to me. I never would have imagined myself as an ‘administrator’ or as a ‘configuration consultant’. Prior to finding Veeva, I was lucky enough to end up in a position as an “accidental admin”. Then suddenly, I could see myself in a career in technology.

My first year at Veeva has been everything I could’ve ever dreamed of. I am surrounded by people who support my learning, and I am constantly learning from everyone I speak to at Veeva.

So, the one thing I wish I knew before starting my career at Veeva was that: I can do it.

That with the right environment, the right resources, and the right people to support you along the way, I (and you) can be an excellent consultant and provide real value to customers who are doing extraordinary work.