Her Story
About Carolina
I have been working in different industries throughout my career, with almost 8 years in electronics. I started in the solar energy industry as an administrative assistant for around 2 years in Colombia, then moved to a sister company in the chemical industry where I started as an administrative assistant. While studying at the same time, I learned all the processes and moved to production supervisor for 3 years at the chemical company. I then moved into the software industry for a company that developed software for doctors, staying around 4 months before moving to the USA. After finishing my year as an au pair, I started looking for a job and found work in the construction industry as a project manager for around 2 years. I wanted to experience the other coast, so I did accounts receivable for 8 months, which helped me gain exposure to the financial area, the only area I hadn't worked in before. The vice president of an electronics company found me on LinkedIn, and after interviewing for different roles, they opened the position as a production lead for me to enter the company. I've been in my current role as production supervisor for one year. My typical day starts with coming in 30 minutes before the production team to turn all the machines on and ensure everything runs smoothly. I make sure the line is up and running no more than 20 minutes after the shift starts, then I tackle urgent tasks, check processes, monitor the line, and do 5S work. The company is going through a transition after being bought out a few years ago, so I'm helping with the standardization process, collecting data, working on different small projects, and cleaning up things that weren't taken care of because people weren't in the roles they needed to be. I'm an industrial engineer, and my main area of expertise is the production floor.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Carolina
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my ability to be flexible and adapt to different scenarios. Throughout my career, I've worked in many different industries and roles, and being able to adjust and learn new processes has been key to my professional growth.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received comes from my current mentor, the vice president of my company. He always tells me to be patient, persistent, and strong, and the advice he always gives me is to keep being humble through the process. This guidance has been invaluable as I navigate my career and continue to grow professionally.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to someone starting off in this industry would be to be patient and to listen to senior employees of the company, as that is a key to success. The electronics industry was very different from everything else I had experienced, so having patience and learning from those with more experience has been crucial.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge I've faced in my field is starting from zero knowledge in the electronics industry. It was very challenging to find the balance between what is a good path and what are good practices, because I had no idea if something was good or not. Just learning good practices took a lot of time to start managing the processes properly. At the beginning, I started from zero, and now I'm a little bit higher up with that knowledge, but I still need to continue learning a lot. Understanding the process and practices took me several months.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that are most important to me and that I bring from my personal life into my work life are respect for people and empathy. These guide how I interact with my team and approach my work every day.
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