As I reflect on my career journey, one thing becomes abundantly clear: internal mobility has been the catalyst in shaping my professional life. I want to share my experiences and insights about this.
Introduction
My name is Megan Eyermann and I am a director on the Optimization Services team. I have been a D2Ler for over 11 years. I had the pleasure of being a D2L client before I became a D2ler. I was so impressed with my experience with all teams that I knew this was a company where I wanted to work. I would frequently check the D2L Careers page to see if there was an opportunity for my skillset. I was fortunate that my background lined up with a role and I was able to join as a technical account manager which was a newly formed team.
Discovering Opportunities
Since my team was new, there weren’t immediate opportunities for advancement within it. As we grew over the years, I had the opportunity to advance my career. As a lifelong learner, I was always transparent with my manager on my desire to continue to grow. I was able to be promoted to a senior role before moving into formal people leadership. After a few years, I was open to new opportunities.
Since I had those conversations with my manager, they kept me in mind when there was an opening on another team. They reached out to me to see if I would be interested. At first, the thought of moving to a new team after spending so many years on a single team was a daunting prospect. I was encouraged by my leadership to push past my fear and take on a new opportunity.
Personal Growth
Transitioning to a new role when you are so accustomed to something else can be intimidating. You move from feeling like you are the expert to feeling like you did on your first day of work—excited for the new challenge while also being a little scared.
My new role gave me additional responsibility and I learned a completely new skillset. I was able to grow professionally as I moved toward the direction of being a leader of leaders where my focus shifted towards a larger company view.
I was fortunate that my former manager had offered to shift to be my mentor. It helped me tremendously to be able to have someone familiar to talk to during my transition and beyond. Maintaining that relationship proved to be fortuitous when I ended up shifting back to my former team.
Advice for Others
- Speak Up: Use your regular meetings with your leader to talk about your career progression. There are amazing resources to help you with those conversations.
- Go for It: Imposter syndrome is real. Just remember you are already awesome. If there is an opportunity you want, be your own champion and go for it.
Conclusion
I wouldn’t be where I am today without the support and guidance from so many others. I have been fortunate to have fantastic leaders who gave me tremendous opportunities for success. The professional development resources truly show how much D2L is committed to the continuing success of employees.
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