"Diverse experience is key to success" Special speech of Ruth S. Sun, a Korean woman director of IBM
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- Writer 커뮤니케이션팀
- 보도일자 2013-12-31
On Oct 25, a special speech was given by director Ruth Sun of a global IT company IBM in the Veritas Building at Sookmyung. She was invited by the Department of Political Science & International Relations for the first time. Through her speech, she told her life story as a Korean-American woman who has become a successful business woman in the mainstream of American society, and gave heartfelt advice to students who dream of becoming leaders in the future.
Ruth joined IBM in 1996 after earning her MBA from Businss School of Emory University. During 17 years of her career, she has worked in the core departments such as software solution portfolio that led to a growth of IBM, and now she is in charge of smarter commerce, smarter cities and enterprise contents management.
Her speech on that day emphasized a broad experience as the secret of success. She said "When I first entered university, I chose undecide major to experience various internships and clubs, and for 3 years I had explored to find out what I really like and what I'm actually good at. Finally I found the answer". She also stated that Korean people are individually very talented, but they tend to think inside the box due to lack of diverse experience.
The most impressive experience that she had during her campus life was her internship as in a small advertising agency and Xerox. She explained, " I learned that a creative job was not suitable for me while I was helping with creative design. However, I found myself enjoy doing sales activities while I was working with salesmen", and continued with smile " It was very helpful because I could find out what I don't like as well as what I like through those experiences".
Many students intensively asked questions on challenges and hardship she had to go through to become a director of a global company as an Asian woman. Ruth answered, "I entered the company with seven other women, and now only two of them are still working. It is not easy for a woman to continue working after giving birth. This is a universal problem. It would be helpful if you prioritize your duties and act accordingly", and she added " I travel too often so I don't have much time to spend with my daughter. So whenever I come back home from work, my first priority is to spend time with my daughter. Prioritizing would be helpful in balancing your career and your family.
Lastly, she emphasized two points. "First of all, you have to ask yourself why you are doing what you are doing, and think why there are different levels of duties and job titles. Then, you should figure out how you can process your job efficiently. That's where 'Think out of the box' comes from. Second, do not tie yourself down to your major. Diverse experience will make you a career woman, not your major.