How do you advance your career in a Virtual First workplace?

Helping each other succeed is one of our core motivators at Dropbox. Throughout the year, we’re always looking for opportunities to promote career growth and learning for all Dropboxers — most recently during Career Development Days.

Career Development Days, held in April, was an expansion of last fall’s Career Week, featuring a new theme: “Designing Your Virtual First Career.” Many of the same concepts were covered, but in light of our shift to Virtual First, we reframed them specifically for a remote work setting. Each week focused on a different aspect of how employees think about their careers, which included everything from shifting mindsets and finding purpose, to utilizing distinctive strengths and accelerating growth.

Rachel Chadderdon, Talent Management leader, played a key role in planning the month’s events. She leaned heavily into the nuances of Virtual First work to help inform session topics — and to encourage Dropboxers to focus on intentional, not incidental, growth.

Rachel said, “While career growth hasn’t fundamentally changed in Virtual First, the way we operate over Zoom — whether we’re managers or ICs — has become important. We don’t have the opportunity to build natural relationships by passing someone in the hallway. We have to be intentional about how we show up, and that includes how we grow our careers.”

Career Development Days offered Dropboxers the chance to learn about key career skills with nine different panels and sessions to attend. The “Key to Great Performance at Dropbox”, which featured data collected from internal research studies, was one of our most popular sessions. We also saw strong engagement in our Internal Mobility panel and session on “Demystifying Levels and Promotions.” To fully round out the month’s offerings with a dose of wellness, we hosted sessions related to finding joy and leading with empathy — as reconnecting with happiness and belonging in the workplace are fundamental to thriving in Virtual First.

“We tried to reiterate simple principles throughout Career Development Days that I hope Dropboxers walked away with,” Rachel said. “For one, it’s important to shift your mindset that career growth only means upward mobility. Career progression can mean taking on new scope, learning a new skill, taking a lateral move, or even taking a step back if it gets you closer to your dream job. While it takes guts to push forward on your own career path, managers should build safety, share vulnerability, and establish purpose for their Dropboxers to engage them in our culture and make Dropbox a place where they want to grow their careers.”

“We also hope Dropboxers walked away with a reminder of our Career Philosophy:

• Everyone plays a role: While you should be proactive about your career, there is shared ownership between the manager, skip-level manager, and company. Dropbox leaders are champions of career growth and invested in growing internal talent.
• Impact first: People join and stay at Dropbox to have an impact, work in an enlightened way, and hone their craft. Here you can find challenging work, own it, and make your mark.
• Taking bets on Dropboxers: We promote from within, look for internal talent to fill cross-functional roles globally, and take risks on our best talent. We value both IC and Manager career paths for this reason.
• Career may be non-linear: Career growth isn’t always linear or a race up a career ladder. Careers that take a non-linear path build versatility and perspective, offering a strong foundation for future career success.
• No silver bullet: There isn’t a checklist or manual to get you where you want to go. Your career growth requires a combination of planning, intentional effort, opportunity, and a little bit of timing.”

We’re excited to see how Dropboxers’ careers flourish in a Virtual First environment. If you want to explore how a career at Dropbox could also help you grow, you can check out our jobs page.