<aside> 👩🏽💻 3 years ago I was working at Google, where I began my career after graduating from Penn. Here, I'll talk about some of my early career experiences and about some of the things I did outside of work that added to my overall business school profile.
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After graduating from Penn, I began my career at Google. (How I ended up there is another story for another time 😊) I joined the company as an Associate Financial Analyst in a rotational program for the kiddos fresh out of college.
A year into my career at Google, I finessed my way over to Google.org, Google’s philanthropy and social impact team. The move to Google.org was absolutely transformative for me. I was able to do work that was more closely aligned with my values and goals. It felt good to be in a position to leverage Google's resources and reach to augment the work of the world's best nonprofit organizations tackling the world's toughest societal issues.
I was always doing the most at Google! I frequently raised my hand for opportunities outside of my main scope of work. This helped me build my internal Google network and have the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects and leadership opportunities, despite being a more junior Googler.
I was particularly passionate about diversity and inclusion efforts, frequently volunteering for projects and events with Google's Black & Latinx Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), The Black Googler Network (BGN) and HOLA. Here is a blog post about the project I was most proud of (and a project that I mentioned a lot throughout my business school applications):
Follow the journey of 13 Latino Trailblazers
<aside> 👩🏽💻 I volunteered to spend my time on community and diversity projects outside of my core role because I was genuinely passionate about that work, not just because I thought I had to do it or because it would look good. I think that kind of initiative and commitment is something that is valuable when it comes to later applying to business school.
No matter where you work or what you're doing, consider the things you value and how you can bring some of those things into the work that you do. Then go out there and make it happen!
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Even though I was not working full-time in a health-related role, I intentionally sought out opportunities that would allow me to contribute meaningfully in the health and wellness space.
Why is this important? Because on paper— literally on my resume and in the business school essays I would later write— I demonstrated a continual dedication to community, health, and wellness. This is all part of my story.
<aside> 🧘🏽♀️ Again, I am definitely not saying that I volunteered for the sole reason of being able to talk about it. I did it because I am very passionate about democratizing wellness and improving health outcomes for underrepresented communities. But, because I continued to prioritize things that I cared about outside of my core job, it was very easy for me to demonstrate that I was deeply committed to this space when I later applied to schools.
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Here is a (very brief) overview of some of the things I was involved in that I mentioned in my applications:
<aside> 🏫 While the years after you graduate don't quite have the same structure as college, you can kind of think about your job as your classes and your outside-of-work commitments as your fave college clubs.
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