How Identity Has Influenced a Chief of Staff Finance's Career at PagerDuty
Andrew's transfer between universities during undergraduate studies instilled valuable adaptability, proving instrumental in navigating subsequent career transitions. The experience of "starting over" and embracing change, initially daunting, ultimately empowered Andrew to confidently forgo law school and transition into the Chief of Staff role, demonstrating that "it would work itself out".
Adaptability, Change Management, Overcoming Challenges, Decision-Making, Resilience
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Andrew La Follette
Chief of Staff, Finance
PagerDuty
University of Arizona, 2012
UCLA MBA
Political Science, American Studies
Technology
Finance
Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans, Transfer Student
Video Highlights
1. Adaptability and navigating new environments: Andrew highlights the challenges of transferring universities—a new environment, new friends, starting over—as crucial experiences that built his adaptability for career transitions.
2. Overcoming fear of change: His experience of transferring taught him that significant life changes (like choosing not to go to law school after being accepted) can be navigated successfully. This impacted his career by reducing his fear of major decisions and transitions.
3. Embracing change and uncertainty: Andrew emphasizes that his transfer experience gave him the confidence to embrace uncertainty and adapt to new roles, like his current Chief of Staff position, because he knew he could successfully handle significant life changes.
Transcript
As someone who identifies as a transfer student, how has that impacted how you've navigated your career?
Transferring was a tough decision, especially in the middle of undergrad. I had done two years at one university and then transferred after my sophomore year to finish out my two years at my second university. This was definitely a lesson in adaptability.
I think transferring came with a lot of challenges. You're kind of starting over a little bit, navigating a new environment, a completely new school, new friends, and so on.
That experience impacted my career in that I decided not to go to law school. I had already made a big change in my life by transferring from college to college, so I wasn't afraid to make that decision. I knew that because I had made a big decision like that in my past and it turned out okay, I could handle saying no to law school.
I was scared to say no because I had already done the work to get accepted. However, I knew based on my prior transfer experience that it would be okay. That's the same with transitioning into this Chief of Staff role. There were a lot of changes, and I didn't really know what was going to happen.
But again, based on my prior two big life choices, I knew it would work itself out and be okay, because of how I approached those other decisions. Transferring taught me a lot about adapting and being okay with change in both my life and my career.