A 26-year-old explains why she warned Google she'd quit after 2 years before accepting a job
That's why, before she could accept a job offer with Google in her senior year of college, she needed to run something by the recruiter.
"I said, 'I am really interested in taking this, but if I take it, I want to leave in two years and start a company. How do you guys feel about that?'" she told Business Insider.
"I'm telling you to hire me because I'm entrepreneurial, but that's also the reason I'm not going to be here way too long. I'm going to want to be entrepreneurial by starting a company. That has to be okay.'"
As a student at the University of Pennsylvania, Wessel founded her own company on campus, worked as an Anheuser-Busch campus ambassador, and interned on Google's marketing team for a summer.
"I loved my summer there," the now 26-year-old says. "I had the best experience. I worked with brilliant people. Everything about it was pretty fantastic."
All that experience helped Wessel figure out that she wanted to build a product to help college students get jobs. She also knew she wanted to gain more experience working at a tech company like Google. When she got the job offer, she was excited.
"At the same time, I knew I wanted to start a company in two years," Wessel says. "I was very adamant about starting a company while I was still young and could take big risks. Not that you can't when you're older, but I just was really excited about the concept of it."
However, when she spoke to the recruiter about her plans, she found them quite supportive. In fact, the recruiter even listed a number of Google alumni who had gone on to found their own companies.
Wessel says that her experience reflects a new normal when it comes to employment. As CNN reported, workers now switch jobs an average of four times before hitting 32.
As CEO of an online platform that connects college students with jobs, Wessel says she draws upon her own experience in conversations with employees. In fact, if a worker at WayUp told her that they were going to leave in two years to start a business, she'd be thrilled.
"My response is, 'As long as you let me invest, I'm happy with that,'" she says.