One whole year has passed since I went a complete 180 on my career pathway (https://thejamiegrace.wordpress.com/2022/03/29/the-next-chapter). The switch from finance to data shocked myself. I still think to myself, “damn I really am a desk girl.” There were tears of frustration and joy, lots of meets and greets, international calls, office events, data hunting, pep talks and most importantly, growth.
There’s stages of starting a new role and I went through each one. The excitement, the honeymoon, the growing pains and finally adjusting. My third month on the job as Data Acquisition Specialist really had me questioning again if this was the right fit. The growing pains seemed endless and I remember telling myself, “If by month 6 I’m still feeling overwhelmed, I’m going to have to reevaluate my job switch.” The constant pep talks, my friends wiping away my tears, the nervous feeling in my stomach, all of it came from fear. The fear that I would never be able to learn how to swim and I’d forever be sinking. Learning a new company, having to restart and meet new people and try to click with my colleagues, the change of pace from 60 to 40 hour work weeks, learning a whole other role and how to do it, feeling like my EY skills didn’t transfer over, at some point feeling isolated, trying not to get hurt from the constant feedback, praying before some meetings (this still happens), it was discouraging and heart breaking. An individual transfers out of a Big 4 to another industry and you’d think “they got it” but I felt the opposite way.
At one point Mary even told me, “I support you with your dreams. But J you can’t just quit because a man is telling you how to be better.” I’ve heard every speech and had my colleagues push me everyday to just make it from 8-5. I took each word of feedback and used it to show I’m trying and that I wanted to learn and be there. It’s not always fun hearing and reading advice and criticism, but we need it to develop. I look back at my interview with D&B a year ago, and remind myself a lot of things with the biggest being— I wanted to try something new and build my career. And every time I huffed and puffed or threatened to go back to EY, I remember how hard I prayed that this role would be mine.
I know some of my family and friends still struggle to explain to other people what my job is LOL. I’ve heard the “she’s a corporate girl”, “she is like an analyst?? Tax but now data”, “she works with banks”, “she does data” “she’s a business woman”descriptions. My title at D&B is Data Acquisition Specialist. In short, I’m a data shopper. My team and I look for datasets that we can incorporate into our products. I look for datasets that can be leveraged for our Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) products and our Supply Chain products. You’d imagine I’d be on Google all day but it’s a diverse mix of things that lead me to data. I call and email third party vendors, vendors find me, there’s public data bases, we have global partnerships. It’s not a simple data dump, I work with other teams to get the data across the line and processed into products. It’s so fun and keeps me on my toes with the different colleagues I work with and the battles and learnings I endure daily. All jobs are temporary and it never should be the main source of happiness. But, it does make me happy that I have a team who cares for me and I’m reminded the impact our work has for the company. I don’t feel like a number and I feel valued from the people I’m with and the output of the work I’m doing. My team is comprised of all men and I’m proud to say they defy the corporate stereotypes you hear about men. They’re supportive and help me with my career and personal development. Every time I fall down, they pick me right back up. I can’t thank them enough for this past year and the years that are to follow.
Two years of working in the corporate 9-5er life has gone by just like that. Only 38 more years to go, but who’s counting? From the moment my career(s) kicked off until today, I can’t thank my family and friends for getting me through it all. Whether I cried, needed to be inspired, needed a hug or food to keep going, or needed help on buying office clothes, thank you for journeying with me. A lot of shout outs to make. Thank you God, Mom/Dad, my siblings, Kuya Matt, the Allarey/Dancel family, Caleb Garrett, Nat Cici and Julia, my D&B team, Mary, and Delanie — for bringing the best out of me and for everything.
If you’ve made it this far.. another 2 minutes below is a glimpse of my day to day.
Jamie Vergara 