Voice of Experience: Christine del Rosario, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers

“Early on in your career, try to think about your aspirations and long-term goals and share them with the people who can help you realize them,” says Christine del Rosario, a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers. While your colleagues will notice you’re giving it your all and might have a sense what you’re working toward, you have to be clear with them as to your goals, so they can help you build the skills to have the experiences you need to pursue opportunities. “If something is on your list, people who support you will tend to help you get to where you want to be.”

Career Path

Del Rosario joined the Orange County office of PwC in 1998 after graduating from UCLA and spent nine years in the assurance practice specializing in the industrial products sector. In her first coaching meeting, she recalls, she mentioned to her coach she wanted to do an international tour at some future stage in her career, and that aspiration was always revisited in their discussions from that point forward. Her plans materialized in 2007 when she moved to London for a three year assignment, and also had the opportunity to work in Tokyo during that time. Through this experience she was exposed to the financial services sector and decided to switch her specialization to financial services when she repatriated in 2010.

Over the years, del Rosario has seen that superiors give opportunities to people they like and in whom they see potential, and they will invest time in developing those individuals. She suggests for women to continue to find ways to connect with leaders in their organizations, both men and women alike. “It’s not so much about networking, but about developing relationships that are genuine because of the emotional investment you have made with those people, which creates a special bond that, almost always, stays with you forever.”

Del Rosario says she was fortunate to develop deep relationships with senior managers and partners early in her career, and she found those individuals looked after her, providing counsel and feedback. “Navigate your way to increase your visibility and likeability factor so you’re top of mind when opportunities arise,” she advises.

One program at PwC she feels has contributed to her success is “Breakthrough Leadership,” where high-potential senior managers who have been identified as future leaders gather for a two-day conference. They build skills, such as how to solicit candid feedback, and are connected with leaders who will help open doors and act as sponsors as they make the journey into the next stage of their careers. “It’s important that we make sure we have these opportunities to develop women, and support them as they progress towards getting admitted into the partnership,” she says. A key contributor is the ability to get exposure and network with leaders and other peers.

Exciting Times and Giving Back

Without hesitation she says that being admitted to the partnership is the achievement she’s most proud of. “Leading up to it you get such tremendous support and the partners truly make you feel they have your back, so when you get admitted it’s like being welcomed to this special family,” she says.

Currently, del Rosario is working closely with some new clients on the audit side. “New engagements with new teams are always a great opportunity to learn together and establish new processes, which is quite powerful when you realize you helped shape what people will continue to build upon for years to come,” she says. “These types of highly collaborative projects are very exciting to me.”

In addition to working on these new clients, del Rosario enjoys being constantly challenged and working to help clients understand how PwC’s five identified megatrends (demographic and social change, shift in economic power, rapid urbanization, climate change and resource scarcity, and technological breakthroughs) will shape the global and economic landscape, many of which may disrupt her clients’ businesses.

Del Rosario has always had an interest in developing others, which carries over into her philanthropy. She serves as an officer of the board of Ascend, a non-profit that focuses on diversity and inclusion and development of Pan-Asian leaders in the business community. Since having been involved in Ascend, “I have had the opportunity to help mentor a lot of wonderful and highly-engaged and motivated individuals as they work their way through their careers, and all of them inspire me to continue to try to make a difference each and every day,” she says.

A Travelling Family

Del Rosario appreciates the privilege she had of travelling around Europe when she and her husband were living in London and now she delights in taking her son places they went as a couple to rediscover them as a family. Before her son turned five, he had traveled over 100,000 miles, with each journey catalogued in a special travel book a friend created when he was born.