Jessica Oppetit: on her career, balance, and the perils of over-planning

By Seth Robinson

“Opportunities sprout from surprising places, so rather than focus on where you want to be in the next ten years, focus on whether what you’re doing right now is challenging and intellectually stimulating. As long as you’re learning, you’re growing.” – Jessica Oppetit, General Manager, ViaVan

Jessica Oppetit graduated from the University of Melbourne in 2009, having studied both Commerce and Law. It’s a versatile combination she says laid the foundation for further study at Harvard Business School in later years, and a career that’s seen her go on to work as a consultant with companies like Apple and European ride-sharing company, ViaVan.

“Hindsight has taught me that University, particularly undergraduate, is set-up to teach students how to think and not how to work. I have managed to pick-up the intricacies of every business that I’ve worked in within the first few months of starting. When I look at CVs or interview people I’m much more interested in how they think than what they know,” she says. “I spent a lot more time in the library during undergrad and a lot more time debating ideas with student on the lawn during postgrad. I was also at a slightly different stage of life when I went to Harvard Business School (HBS). Once you’ve worked for a few years you have a new-found appreciation for student life. The ability to read endlessly and debate random topics is a privilege, which was lost on me in undergrad.”

Upon completing her studies, Jessica dived into the world of consulting, the beginning of a career that saw her move onto an operations role at Apple, before joining ViaVan in London, where she is now the General Manager. However, this wasn’t a planned progression. Each role came about as the result of opportunities presenting themselves, and what was right for Jessica at the time.

Jessica
- Jessica Oppetit

“I joined Apple because I was interested in operations and I thought there was no better place to learn supply chain. I joined ViaVan because of the interview process. I met with nine people, each person was more impressive, passionate and humble than the person that preceded them. The main difference between working at Apple and working at ViaVan are the people and the autonomy. Both companies are world class at what they do. Both companies hire really smart people. What I like about ViaVan is that their people are empowered to do things quickly and iteratively.”

It's an experience that has allowed Jessica to distil some advice for recent graduates.

“Opportunities sprout from surprising places, so rather than focus on where you want to be in the next ten years, focus on whether what you’re doing right now is challenging and intellectually stimulating. As long as you’re learning, you’re growing. Look for people who you think are impressive or who have jobs you like the look/sound of and spend time figuring out what skills they have that you might need. Then look for opportunities that might teach you those skills.”

And for young women, who are planning for their future and mapping out their careers:

“Plan for today not for tomorrow. At 23, I recall myself saying that I was a bit worried about pursuing a consulting career because it would be difficult to balance the travel with children. By the time that I actually had children, seven years later, I had gone to business school and had two jobs post-consulting, neither of which I would have been hired for without the consulting experience. Every time I hear a young woman say that she chose a career because it would be easy to do part time one day, I want to shake some sense into her. Of course, part-time is completely okay once you’ve started a family but don’t plan for part-time flexibility today if you don’t need it. You don’t know what type of family life you are going to want or what career options will be available to you in five-to-ten years’ time. Rather than picking a job today that will suit you in five years, pick a job today you find interesting. You might just find that the intellectual stimulation is integral enough to your happiness that you decide to go full-time when you finally decide to have children.”