How long have you worked at AstraZeneca and what do you like most about your job?
I have worked in AstraZeneca for 13 years 9 months and I most enjoy the continuous learning and development available.
What do you like to do when you aren’t working?
Running, getting to know new people with different background, experience, and knowledge.
Fun fact about you that people may not know?
I never drove before moving to the US!
Do you have any pets? Family/children?
Have pets, married with one 10-year-old son.
What’s your work/life balance experience been at AZ?
Work/life balance has always been advocated and supported by all my line managers (I have had 12 line managers from four countries), no exceptional as this is built into AZ’s culture. Although high workload and pressure do exist for certain period of time, AZ encourages flexible working hour to best match family arrangement and provided program/tools to help employees work more efficiently in a healthy way, both physically and mentally.
How do you network with other women both inside and outside of AZ?
I organize regular reunions (eating, shopping, watching movie, etc.) with female ex-colleagues of AZ. For women inside AZ, I have regular catch up (lunch, walk, chat, kids’ activities) with them.
What would you like other women to know about joining AZ as a new employee?
I’ve been working in AZ for nearly 14 years in both China (Shanghai) and US (Gaithersburg), I can tell that AZ is a great place to work especially for working mom (maybe I can be more vocal for the China part as I have spent 12 years in China), as it provides very flexible working pattern and arrangement to achieve work and life balance and it also encourages and invests on women to build up leadership and confidence at work.
What is your favourite memory while at AstraZeneca?
- Being together with several thousand sales and marketing colleagues in the National Sales Conference, very exciting and unforgettable experience as you can feel the energy, passion, and confidence to deliver ambitious goal in the most direct way. I joined our ‘Women as Leaders’ program in 2017, which was the most favourite training memory at AZ.
How do you feel AstraZeneca best supports your career as a female employee?
AZ is keen to help and encourage female employees to develop leadership and get into senior roles. In my case, my line managers provided me with coaching, training, mentoring opportunities for me to keep building up and uplifting my capabilities in different areas which helped me to get ready for broader and more senior roles in the organization. I was always encouraged and helped when I planned to move into different roles in the organization. I have worked in 8 different roles in 2 SET area and 4 functions, and been promoted 5 times (HR band wise) so far, which I think it’s very convincing to say that AZ cares about it’s employee’s career development.
