Looking For Help Changing Careers, Former Academic Finds A ‘Career Mentor’

When Jenny Wong talks about her last job, she calls it her “previous life.” Her academic research was gratifying and taught her a lot, but she felt a little isolated working in the lab. She wanted to be able to leverage the technical skills she picked up in academia while interacting with people on a day-to-day basis. 

She found her dream job with ActionIQ, which helps enterprise companies use data to improve their customer experience. We talked with her about her decision to change industries, how it changed the trajectory of her career, and finding a great partner with Averity.

Congratulations on your new promotion with ActionIQ! How long have you been with the company?

I started here as a field engineer a little over two years ago and have since moved into a management role. 

What was the job search like? Did you start out doing it on your own?

I started off looking by myself. I focused my efforts on opportunities where I could make a connection either with someone on the team or someone on the hiring side. Then I met Stephanie Grosso, who has been my main point of contact at Averity. She took me through the whole process, identifying a job that might be a good fit based off of the conversation that we had. 

The process was even better than I had anticipated. I told Stephanie that my experience was on the technical side of things, but that I knew that I liked the customer-facing aspects as well. She found a position that was a bit of both. I have nothing but good things to say about my experience.

Have you stayed in touch with her?

Yes! She’s been a sounding board for me. If I had anything to talk about, either during the application process or even after I was starting off in the new job, she made it very clear that I could reach out to her. It was a pleasant surprise that she would offer her help even after I secured the position.

Stephanie really goes above and beyond. She’s always been there for me, even when I applied for the manager role at my current company. She has been such an important part of my journey. I think of her as a career mentor.