Erin Watkinson, BA '00
Job Title: Vice President of Client Success at Adpearance
Major: International Business, Spanish

Part of the Daily Emerald "Alumni Take Flight" Series
 

Erin Watkinson has enjoyed success at six different companies and explored many different professional positions since graduating from the University of Oregon in 2000. Today, she is the vice president of client success at Adpearance, a digital marketing and sales intelligence company located in Portland, and is doing exactly what she is passionate about: interacting with clients and ultimately building strong relationships with people.

How did you get to where you are now?

At the University of Oregon, I was an international studies major with a focus in business administration. I started straight out of college as a tech recruiter and just sort of fell into it. So, I actually don’t have a marketing background. The bulk of my career has really been in the software space. Adpearance reached out to me, and they wanted to focus more on being a product and tech company first. I came to Adpearance with a software and consulting background, which I think highlights that you’re never too old to start in a new vertical.

What did you learn from your experience at the University of Oregon?

I was fortunate enough to be involved in a lot of extracurriculars. I was in Greek life, I worked at Safe Ride and I volunteered with a lot of different organizations. Testing those limits gave me the confidence to try new things. I changed my major three or four times. I was an English major first, then later changed my mind. I loved teaching, so I switched to education, and I did that for a bit of time. That almost came too easy, so I felt I needed to challenge myself more. The international studies major was interesting to me, and I wanted to take business classes without taking too many math classes, so I went in that direction.

What are your thoughts on networking? Are there any wrong ways to network?

I think networking is powerful. There are a lot of people who want. I just met with a former coworker who asked for advice because she’s just now exploring a change in her career, and I said absolutely! The challenge to networking is not to come across as selfish. But anytime I’ve networked with anyone from either direction, either as advice giver, or advice seeker, it has been such a positive experience. If you have the confidence to make that first step of reaching out to someone, I can almost guarantee that the person you work with is going to respond in kind.

Does networking get easier?

Absolutely it gets easier, and the fear starts to go away a little bit. If the contact doesn’t have time to talk to you, it’s is not a reflection on you; don’t take it personally. When you network and have a conversation, it benefits both you and the person you are talking to, as well. A reminder for students is that your network is a reflection of the energy you put out there. It does take hard work. There’s the work ethic component, integrity and how you show up. If you work hard, and if you present yourself as a strong candidate, you’ll be fine. But you can’t expect to build a strong network just because you think you deserve one.

Written by Cadaxa Chapman Ball, Daily Emerald Reporter