How I landed a job at NASCAR
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This story is part of a new series on “How I landed the job,” going step-by-step through job changes and negotiations at some of Charlotte’s best places to work. To be considered for a story, please email [email protected].
Leanne Downey
Manager of Financial Planning & Analysis at NASCAR. LinkedIn.
The career path
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- Moved to Charlotte in 2005 without a job (remember what it was like back then?). “I had some experience in finance so I felt like I was in a good position even though I had to move before I had a job.”
- Worked with a recruiter, Sherpa, and was hired for Transamerica Reinsurance in Uptown within a month.
- The company was bought out and became SCOR Global Life Americas but essentially the role stayed the same. Stayed there until 2013.
- Tried to work with a recruiter again when ready for a change but it didn’t lead to anything promising. Applied to Time Warner Cable online and got a call from their in-house recruiting firm. Got the job as a Senior Financial Analyst and stayed for 14 months.
- The environment felt unstable with the potential buy-out from Comcast so she started looking again.
- “I went through a recruiter again this time, TalentBridge.” The NASCAR opportunity came up through those conversations – she went in to interview and got the job.
Describe your day-to-day in layman’s terms
“I work in the digital media group so I focus on running the budget and forecast for that department, looking specifically at some of our revenue streams. Advertising and subscription to our apps are two of the big things. I control the expenses in terms of traveling and operations expenses around the office.”
Career advice you live by
“It’s not what you know but who you know. It’s not the only way, but once you get into a company you have to start building relationships and getting to know everyone on every level, all the way down to admin assistants and all the way up to the very top.
Along the way you never know who will help you. Some people get in and think, ‘unless you have power in the company I don’t have time for you,’ and that’s just not true. You never know when someone can help you get that meeting or hookup that you really need.”
Your go-to negotiation tactic
“Unfortunately, I’m not the best at that and I’ll admit that. When budgets are tight and it doesn’t feel like they’ll budge on salary, I go in with vacation time. Usually they are willing to move with that and at the end of the day, vacation time can be super valuable.”
So, it’s NASCAR. Coolest perk?
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“Getting the chance to go to the tracks, and we get ‘hot passes’ so you can go down in the garage and watch them pull in. You never know when the drivers will pop in and be on our floor. You turn around and Danica Patrick is in the women’s room.
It’s a very cool company and especially because the floor I’m on is in digital media – design is cool – there are a lot of young people and it’s a very fun environment. Even though I’m in finance I get to be a part of that culture.”