This past April, I joined the Anthemis Female Innovators Lab as an Investment Associate. From interviewing over Zoom, never having met the team in person when making the final decision to taking the new role, and onboarding remotely from Montana, it has been such an exciting Spring. Over the past month I have been in the process of finishing my MBA at Tuck and starting my new role at Anthemis. I have seen first hand how challenging this economic environment has been for many of my classmates and peers to get a job and how quickly the working world has changed. With that in mind, I have put together five key learnings getting a job and onboarding in the time of COVID-19:
Do The Unexpected: When I first applied to Anthemis, I put together an “Elizabeth Davis Pitch Deck.” I included everything from my value proposition for the role, a network map that I could bring to the Female Innovators Lab, and my 30–60–90 strategy. While the deck didn’t necessarily land me the role, I think it definitely helped get my foot in the door.
Focus on Values and People: I had the opportunity to interview with many members of the Anthemis team from fellow Associates, to Principals, to the Chief People Officer, to the two Founders of the firm. After every interview, I felt more and more like this would be the dream job. During the interview process, I saw first hand Anthemis’ focus on diversity, the importance of values to the organization, and the emphasis on cultural and gender diversity across the investment team (48% of our investors are women!)
Use Tools To Stay Connected: After getting the job, and throughout the entire onboarding process, Zoom and Slack has kept our team connected. I maintain a running list of ‘Female Innovators Lab Katie Questions’ as they come up and find time to ask them during our multiple daily check-ins.
Schedule Virtual 1:1’s with Team Members: I’m definitely an extrovert so the idea of onboarding this way was a little daunting, but I’ve found that virtual platforms and the flexibility for quick check-ins have helped me connect to the team. When I first started the Anthemis team had scheduled 10+ 1:1’s with various team members, and I have since met everyone through a virtual offsite. It is amazing that it has only been a month because I feel like I have known Katie (who leads the Female Innovators Lab by Barclays and Anthemis) and the Anthemis team for years!
Jump In: Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to dive in on everything — from organizing virtual events, collaborating with our partners at Barclays, to learning more about our macro thesis of embedded finance here at Anthemis. The Anthemis team is extremely efficient and organized, which meant that I was able to move through the onboarding process quickly and was able to jump into our core work of investing in Female Founders almost immediately.
With only 2.8 percent of investments going to female Founders, coupled with the unprecedented macroeconomic challenges we are facing, it is more important than ever for venture capital to create opportunities for Founders, especially women. At the Female Innovators Lab, our doors are open for business, even if they are remote.
This post first appeared on Medium. Learn more about Davis who was named to Poets & Quants "2020 MBAs to Watch."
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