At 27-years-old, I joined Ciscoas aCommercialSalesAssociatein Montrealand loving my experience as an employee of thistechnology juggernaut.Imagine my surprise then, when I was offered another roleat another manufacturer-and my peers and management at Cisco encouraged me to go for it! 

They all said things like,"That'sa greatcompany!"and "Thisisa great move for you and I'm confident you're going to do great!" It perhaps shouldn't have been a surprise -Cisco hasalwaysencouraged me to be the best version of myself and routinely pushed me out of my comfort zone. 

With that in mind,I accepted the role and left Cisco.And my peers were right,it was a great move for me until 2020 took me down an unexpected path, where I would upfurloughedwithout a plan. 

Rather than panic, I startedto thinkabout what I love to do and who I might want to do that work for in the future. Knowing I wanted to be involved with people,I started thinking about how I might find something that allows me to do that.Before that idea was fully baked, I gave a call to one of my oldCommercial Sales Associatepals at Cisco -Jess Murphy who had moved into a role onCisco's Customer Experienceteam.  

After sharing with her where I was currently in my career journey, she mentioned that her team was looking for someone to cover Western Canada. Intrigued, I asked who happened to cover Eastern Canada at the time. Jess responded, "I do. But it's a little challenging at times as I don't speak French." I threw out an idea - "I'm bilingual! Would youever considercovering the West and maybe I could interview for the East?" 

This one conversation and ideawould be the catalyst to the next chapter in my career.  

Acouple of days later I hadthreeinterviews set up all in the same day-and was filled with anxiety. Interviews are always a bit nerve wracking -this time, my recent furlough was still a fresh wound. I was delighted to find out, however,that the furlough didn't matterto Cisco. What mattered wasme. 

My interviewers allwanted to know why I wanted the job, why I thought I would be a good fit, whatwouldI bring to the table as an individual and as a teammate? The conversations went much deeper than typical interview questions because at Cisco, you're not just a number. You matter, and you're cared for-right from the start. 

After I accepted the offer -Cisco's warmth continued. Myboss sent me a text message,"Hey,I needed to act fast for your laptop so I'm having it shipped to my house. Once it's delivered, I'll drive it to you." What anawesome gesture!In an environment where we likely won't be going back to the office anytime soon, thisalso gave me the opportunity to meet my boss face to face and exchange a couple of words. 

Iamso excited toreturn to the Cisco ranks and have this opportunity to shinein a role and company that encourages positivity and to be someone that makes everybody feel like somebody. 

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