James Adeyanju

Major: Life Sciences Communication

Certificate: Digital Studies

Graduation Date: May 2016

How did you end up at Zoom?

I moved to Silicon Valley to work at a company called Memoryblue after graduation. Memoryblue specializes in training people to become Sales Development Representatives and/or Business Development Representatives for tech companies. My client, Carbon, hired me after 3 months as a full-time employee and I went on to work with them for four years. During that time I was promoted from an inside sales rep to account manager to sales director. Then, this past June, I was hired as an account executive at Zoom. Even though I’m still relatively new, I’ve managed to understand the UcaaS industry and some of the other competitors.

What does a typical day in the office look like for you?

In my current role, I work with prospective customers to understand their collaboration strategies and convey the value proposition of Zoom as a full communications suite. I work with them to understand what solutions will help their business.

How has Digital Studies influenced your career path?

Digital Studies has helped give me the confidence I needed to work in the tech industry with a variety of skills I may not use every day but know I have them if I need them. Understanding data and how to retrieve that information in the form of a database is one thing digital studies has helped me with in my tech career. As an account executive, I’m constantly keeping track of information related to customer needs and discovering new data about my customers that may relate to our products.

Did you have a favorite Digital Studies class?

I really enjoyed Library and Information Studies 202: Divides and Differences in a Multicultural Society with its focus on the differences in how media and communications shape different cultures and our own interactions as a society.

Do you have any advice for current students?

Take as many courses as you can, especially in things that are tech-related. The world is moving to a more automated model.