By Kara Sherrer
Shanah Gaskill began her career in tech, working in Uber’s marketing department. She worked her way up to Senior Marketing Manager, but along the way, she became more involved in human-centered projects. “Because of all that was going on with the culture (at Uber), I started to raise my hand for people-oriented projects. Through that I was gaining responsibility within the HR org, but I was still sitting in the marketing team,” she recalled.
This experience led her to contemplate a career in the field, and she decided that it was time to make the leap from marketing to HR. Since she had no formal HR experience, she began looking at MBA programs to help her bridge that divide. The Vanderbilt MBA was one of the few programs she found that offered a specific concentration in Human and Organizational Performance (HOP).
“Coming to get my MBA, specifically at a school that was focused on HR, would allow me to make that jump,” she said. “In the interview process, being able to speak to what I was learning in class was super cool. What we learned in the HOP classes are very applicable to the HR roles that we’re going into.”
Gaskill’s planning paid off: she was able to secure an HR internship at Twitter, allowing her to stay in the tech world but explore a new function. After a great summer experience, she received a full-time offer and will be returning as a Program Manager II on their Global Talent Management team.
“They just pour so much into their employees that everyone there is so proud to work there and everyone there is (dedicated to) the same mission,” she said. “I’m just really, really excited to work with and learn from my colleagues.”
Click through the timeline below to find out how Gaskill landed her offer.
