Think about impact you make, take planned risks
I was fascinated with science, tinkering with new technologies and building prototypes. This led me to pursue my education in engineering and later to join Bosch Research.
However, I felt an urge to understand the real-world impact of my work, prompting me to move my field from research to product engineering, where I was presented with the option of exploring a career in either gaming or healthcare.
Making an impact
The healthcare sector is today close to my heart. I feel working in healthcare gives me the opportunity to use the latest digital technologies and put them to work for my friends, family, and neighbours.
Lowering healthcare barriers
With my current organisation, Optum, a part of UnitedHealth Group – one of the largest global healthcare companies – I am building solutions that can help people get access to care, on their terms, where and when they need it, making their experience simple and affordable. Along with my team, we assemble, enrich, and analyse healthcare information to create transparency, and inform decisions and actions based on that knowledge.
Unlearning & learning
While starting my stint with Optum, in a truly global setup, I faced multiple challenges, including managing multicultural teams, customers, and stakeholders. This also meant building further on my people skills, team management and time management capabilities, all the while ensuring alignment to business and customer needs. The one thing that really helped me was my willingness to unlearn and learn, thereby equipping myself with the skills to grow in my career.
Sense of satisfaction
I feel it’s important to realise that a career is a marathon and not a sprint. Sometimes, it is okay to take a step back and know your priorities. Always be curious and understand the reason behind why things are done. Think about the impact and the larger picture and take calculated risks. At the end of the day, it is the sense of satisfaction that will help you go above and beyond.
