Eleanor Falla Professional Headshot

Published names: Lydia Oh, Bahishta Sami, Camille Tran, Aya Ahmed, and Emma Fearn 

Overview

Growing up around tech in the Seattle area, with her father also working in a tech field, Eleanor Falla gained inspiration to pursue a career at Microsoft. She graduated from the University of Washington Bothell, with a major in Applied Computing and a minor in Business. After graduating, she started a job in Microsoft working as a consultant, and later on moved to working in 3 different departments. This included working as a program manager for AzureCAT for 1 year, an App Assure program manger for 3 years, and is currently working as a Senior Product manager for the security department at Microsoft, with almost 10 years of extensive experience.

Undergraduate Experience and Early Career

During her undergraduate years, she would go through recruiter websites to make connections with university recruiters. According to Eleanor, it is helpful to create connections through LinkedIn and enroll in internship programs, starting as early as her sophomore year. During our interview with Eleanor, she mentioned how she always knew that she wanted to work for a large corporation. Eleanor also credits her father for inspiring her to pursue a career in the STEM field, specifically in the technology field.

“Obviously, when I graduated high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I moved to the Seattle area because my dad also works at Microsoft. He brought our family to the area when I was 6 and so I grew up being around STEM and seeing him in the tech world. I thought that it seemed cool. I mean, clearly he makes enough to provide for our family, so I should do the same thing. That is the reason why I followed this space. My dad was the guide that I needed to help me realize that tech is a cool thing to do, it’s innovative,” (Interview, 31:58). 

When Eleanor first began her undergraduate journey in university, she started off with computer science as her intended major. However, she ended up having doubts, trying to figure out if this long-term career path was what she actually wanted to do in the future, “I was always very interested in project management, the management side of technology, and not necessarily the actual coding itself,” (Interview, 1:49). Eleanor went to the advising center to get some help with this decision. There, the advisors helped guide her towards applied computing. Because of this experience, Eleanor heavily recommends having one on one time with advisors and building a connection with them, as well as with your mentors and professors.

Early into Falla’s career journey, a constant issue that she experienced was imposter syndrome. By definition, imposter syndrome is: “the persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills” (OxfordLanguages). She mentioned that the reason she would deal with this a lot was due to her youth at the time. However, after years of high performance, Falla realized that she is more than capable of completing tasks and became secure in her position at work. She was able to come to this realization through confidence building. “Fake that confidence until you actually start to have it,” (Interview, 29:04). For Falla, she took the approach of “fake it til you made it.” While some may find this to be well known advice, Falla’s success in utilizing this method speaks volumes on the effectiveness of the phrase.

Networking and Communicating in a Job

Along with using both written and oral communication, Eleanor believes in both internal networking within Microsoft, as well as external networking in the form of writing blogs and posting them on networking websites such as Linkedin. She finds it important to overly communicate and talk about the work you do, generating energy and showing excitement over the skills she has and is capable of, which helped provide a clear line of communication with her peers and her higher ups.

“…finding from a survey they conducted among 750 tech leaders: ‘Women that we interviewed said, while it seems simple, you actually have to state your ambition out loud because we assume people know we want to become leaders, but actually without communicating it, people don’t know how to support us and enable and help us’” (Palmer). 

While we spoke with Eleanor, she mentioned how she was still able to stay in contact with her mentors and maintain thoughtful relationships with them. By setting up in-person and virtual meetings every 6 months, scheduling regular check points, and putting in effort to maintain contact provided a valuable resource for guidance even after settling into her career.

According to her, clear communication is one of the most important keys to successfully connecting with your peers and superiors. Taking notes and using clear communication can help shift the conversation in the right direction. “The best way to make sure you tailor the type and level of detail to your audience is to think in advance about who they are and what is relevant to them” (Palmer). In addition, Falla says that a crucial part of networking and communicating with superiors is finding a “good” manager; one who will connect you to the right people and aid you in your aspirations. Not only would a “good” manager aid you, but they would also share your excitement to advance your career. Having clear communication with your superiors will help foster this sentiment of supporting you.

“Good managers are always willing to help you grow your career in any direction that might be” (Interview, 21:27). 

Mentors and sponsors are another important part of advancing your career.. A mentor is someone you can talk to, ask for advice, and assist you in building skills. A sponsor doesn’t do the same amount of work that a mentor does. A sponsor is primarily someone who understands your skills and has witnessed them first-hand and takes them into consideration when putting you in touch with certain people and/or opportunities. In short, they are a sponsor for your career. While both have their advantages and disadvantages, they are both gained through effective communication and networking. With this in mind, treating each connection that comes your way with respect could prove to be advantageous for oneself.

Summary

Eleanor Falla’s journey from growing up in the tech-centric Seattle area to becoming a Senior Project Manager at Microsoft showcases her dedication and strategic career planning. Graduating with a degree in Applied Computing and a minor in Business from the University of Washington Bothell, Falla utilized networking and interpersonal skills to secure her initial role at Microsoft. Throughout her career, she navigated various departments, emphasizing the importance of mentorship, clear communication, and overcoming imposter syndrome. Falla’s story highlights the value of building connections, continuous learning, and effective communication in achieving career success in the tech industry.

Bibliography

Falla, Eleanor. Personal Interview. 17 May, 2024.

OxfordLanguages. 2024. https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/

Palmer, Sarah. “Women in STEM: Powerful Communication Skills Will Help You Succeed.” Power Speaking. Inc. Director of Business Development. EMEA. 8 March, 2022. https://blog.powerspeaking.com/women-in-stem