In an effort to share the stories of the CareerBuilder employees who are hard at work #BuildingForYou, we continue our employee feature series, from celebrating individuality and lending personal experience to their insight on industry trends and everything in between.
Anna Pena joined the CareerBuilder team a little more than two years ago and has since grown with the company and improved her skills while advancing products. Through her work as the Senior Release Manager for our global Product Teams, Anna touches every part of product development and has learned much along the way. Read on to learn about her favorite project at CareerBuilder and how her dad inspired her career choices.
How have you grown professionally during your time at CareerBuilder?
I have had fantastic opportunities to expand my skill set at CareerBuilder, starting with certifications in the scaled agile framework and release training engineering. I can reinforce and apply the learnings from the certifications directly into day-to-day work. The certifications and experience gained at CareerBuilder allowed me to move from focusing solely on release readiness activities to facilitating Research &Development/IT planning.
What do you enjoy most about working at CareerBuilder?
The best part about working at CareerBuilder is hands down the people. CareerBuilder is stacked with dedicated, smart people who are self-motivated to get the work done. There have been countless times when team members step up to help hit a deadline and still manage to have fun doing it.
What is your favorite project that you have worked on during your time at CareerBuilder?
Facilitating and participating in the CareerBuilder beta program has, by far, been my favorite project. Being part of a process where we engage our internal experts in test driving new features and products before release has been rewarding. CareerBuilder is full of very passionate and knowledgeable employees who know the industry and our client needs exceptionally well, so getting their feedback before launch has been very beneficial.
What is the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Get out of your comfort zone! Becoming an expert in something is great, but you cannot stop learning and challenging yourself. The majority of the time, taking on something new (even if it is hard at first) is where you grow, so don’t be afraid to raise your hand for a unique opportunity.
What was your first job, and what were your biggest takeaways from the experience?
I had a paper route delivery with my sister when I was 12. I learned very early on what it means to commit to a job; if you commit to something, you need to follow through with it even when it is raining outside and you have papers to deliver!
What inspired you to choose your current career path?
Seeing my dad work his way up to managing a major manufacturing facility was an inspiration to get into some facet of the business world. He made it look easy when it wasn’t, and I got to see firsthand how a good leader can set up teams for success. Watching his career progress showed us where hard work and a career you're passionate about can lead.