GO Slugs! Go Slugs! Go! Go! Go Slugs! Wait, were you expecting a cheer for UW Huskies? Alright, alright that’s coming next, but before that, we present the story of a woman named Verena Hess. Verena graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a Bachelor’s in US history and decided to head for a higher road (literally and figuratively) to the University of Washington for graduate school.

However, on the way up this not-so-straight road, she worked in Silicon Valley for four years in the field of technology and gained media-related knowledge as well. Afterwards, Verena came to the UW for her master’s in communications and ended up with a doctorate in the same field. Her particular specialty was political communications and she enjoyed being a teaching assistant while working on her degree. Because of her background in media, Verena was able to utilize this knowledge in teaching her students basic concepts in new media. As a vigorous multi-tasker, Verena also worked at the UW Carlson Center as an education and communications consultant and provided vital support to the director. Responsible as she was with this particular position, Verena was also a vital part of the Department of Environmental Health, where she worked as a researcher and conducted interviews to better understand ergonomics regulations in the state of Washington.

An important aspect of Verena’s success was that she wasn’t afraid to seek help. Verena met with a career counselor at the UW Career Center, participated in the Dependable Strengths seminar, and took advantage of the mock interview resource as well. She also took the initiative to conduct informational interviews, which helped her make important connections with political strategy firms. One of the many things Verena learned from her informational interviews is that, “People are willing to talk about what they do.” So, don’t be shy!

Originally, Verena thought she would like to work in higher education but as she learned more and more about her skills and strengths, she realized the opportunities she had were more diverse. Success for her wasn’t always a straight road – and she actually found inspiration off-road, in the sky! Verena met a Microsoft employee on a plane when flying back from a job interview in California. The two chatted about Verena’s skills, interests, and career goals, as well as opportunities at Microsoft that might be a good match. One thing led to another and Verena landed a job at Microsoft as the Senior Marketing Manager focusing on SharePoint. In her current role, she works in communications, focusing on analysts and their perspectives about the social computing space for big businesses. Throughout her time at MS, Verena has drawn upon her skills and experience as a social scientist, teacher, and her specific research in communications.

So, now that Dr. Hess is a bona fide UW alum, it’s time everyone! Go Huskies! Go Huskies! Go! Go! Go Huskies!

— Written by Rebecca Levy