‘I Love My Job’: BlackRock Empowers Me to Embrace My Unique Perspective While Pursuing Opportunities

Welcome to I Love My Job, the series where we hear from women who really love their jobs. In this edition, we sat down with Janet Londele, a Vice President at BlackRock who leads the Data & Document Governance (DDG) team within Client Experience Operations (CXO).

During her 10+ years at BlackRock, Londele tells us that she’s been continuously supported in both her career growth as well as personal growth. Three of the main ways that BlackRock has supported her are:

1. “One key element that has played a big role in my career over the past few years has been receiving mentorship opportunities and having access to individuals who can help [me] navigate career uncertainties. Too often, I have found myself wanting a new challenge or even a change of direction and not knowing how to navigate those conversations. Mentors have definitely played a key part in these situations.”

2. “BlackRock also has a strong emphasis on work-life balance. I am a wife, a mother, and I've had a really good career over the past few years. That has only been possible because of the flexibility that BlackRock offers.” 

3. “In addition, there's definitely a culture of continuous feedback, which means that I'm able to be recognized for the contributions that I'm making, while also being empowered to continue to grow in any future aspirations.”

In the video below, Londele shares more about why she loves working at BlackRock. We also provide lightly edited highlights from the video discussion in the following article.

Can you tell us about your career journey with BlackRock?

I've been with the firm for 13-and-a-half years. I began my career journey at BlackRock as an Analyst within the Trade Operations team. That was a nice place to start because it gave me valuable insights into what the financial services industry was about.

Over my 13-and-a-half years, I've been able to progress through different roles, including institutional client reporting. I found that having these opportunities for internal mobility has allowed me to have a deepened understanding of what my contribution is to the firm as well as have good career development within BlackRock.

Talk to us about a project you’re working on that you find really exciting.

Over the past four years, I've been involved in the continued development of an application called Tattoo, which is a tool developed by BlackRock that converts documents into raw text, extracts that text, and then converts it into specific terms that are then utilized by other stakeholders.

One of the exciting things about the project is that it’s given us an opportunity to touch on a hot topic at the moment, which is artificial intelligence. So, we feel like we’ve been ahead of a trend.

The project has really challenged me in terms of my critical thinking; it's given me an opportunity to collaborate with other teams, especially those in technology. I always say that I am not tech savvy, but I'm definitely tech curious. So, this project has fed into my curiosity and also given me the space to find innovative solutions where we can utilize Tattoo for the benefits of other stakeholders…

How would you describe the culture of BlackRock?

There is a collaborative and innovative culture. BlackRock has a diverse perspective into the values that employees have, and there's really a strong emphasis on teamwork. I find that no matter how hard a task is or how impossible something might seem, you can always pick up the phone to call anyone from analysts to directors, and people will gather together to help you resolve your problem. 

The firm makes me feel empowered to take ownership of ideas and initiatives. We foster an environment where creativity thrives.

What’s your favorite thing about working at BlackRock?

One of the favorite things about BlackRock is definitely the culture, which I can never speak enough about. But beyond that, I find that BlackRock provides a lot of opportunities for professional growth and development. There are always challenging projects that provide ongoing learning and training programs.

There's also a lot of diverse perspectives within the firm. Sometimes, it's not too obvious when you're talking about diversity, but it takes being in a room full of people from different walks of life and hearing how each one of them is able to have a successful career within the firm.

What advice would you give to other women looking to work at BlackRock?

Embrace your unique perspective. I tell everyone that begins a mentorship journey with me about the importance of being authentic because through authenticity, you become a person that somebody else can also look up to.

Too often as women, we feel that we have to change ourselves in order to be able to adapt into a specific environment. But I have always felt that I'm able to be myself at BlackRock, and I'm given the space to bring that authentic self while also chasing career opportunities. You are valued as an individual but because there are so many opportunities that you can tap into within BlackRock.

Fairygodboss is proud to work with BlackRock. Find a job there today!

Check out other posts in the ‘I Love My Job’ series:

• 'I Love My Job': A Home Away from Home, a Chance to Explore and Grow a Career
  

• ‘I Love My Job’: How Capital One Empowers This Leader to Grow and Be Her Authentic Self

• ‘I Love My Job’: The Skills I Used to Advance in My Sales Career

• ‘I Love My Job’: Making a Real Impact on Millions of Users as Part of the Global TikTok Team

• ‘I Love My Job’: Achieving Growth ‘Beyond My Imagination’ Thanks to the Support of My Global Company

• ‘I Love My Job’: A ‘Winning Culture’ Where We Win Together as a Supportive and Flexible Team