Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) CFO Amy Hood’s one-day stint at Alcatraz came before earning a compensation package worth roughly $29.5 million at the tech giant.



But careers do not always unfold the way people expect, she said last month at Duke University’s commencement ceremony.



&#34;Your next step doesn’t have to be a perfect one,&#34; Hood said. &#34;It just has to be an opportunity.&#34;



She also encouraged graduates to keep learning and stay curious, drawing on the relationships and work experiences that shaped her career.



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<h2>The Résumé Looked Cleaner Than The Reality </h2>



Hood graduated from Duke in 1994, but she did not plan on a career in finance when she first came to campus. 



She told the Duke graduates she started as a biology major and was among the students who actually liked organic chemistry. But after deciding medical school was not for her, she switched to economics partly because it required the fewest additional credits to graduate on time.



That practical decision led to an internship designed to introduce women from non-finance backgrounds to banking. Hood said she did not know much about the industry at the time, but she wanted to move to New York, and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) became her first major learning experience.



&#34;I can assure you I would not have been voted by my peers as most or even decently likely to succeed in finance,&#34; she said.



After earning an MBA from Harvard University and returning to Goldman Sachs in San Francisco, the work no longer felt right. Hood said she tried to quit several times before leaving for good.



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She considered going back to school again, possibly for public policy. Then she found National Park Service internships and pictured herself working outdoors somewhere iconic, like Yosemite or Yellowstone. Instead, she was assigned to Alcatraz, the former federal prison, where she spent one day stamping souvenir booklets.



<h2>The Parking-Lot Offer That Changed Everything </h2>



After leaving the National Park Service assignment at Alcatraz, Hood told the graduates she spent months searching for work before a friend asked whether she wanted to interview at Microsoft.



She had already been rejected by the company twice years earlier, but this time she got the job. Hood said she accepted the offer in a parking lot without knowing the compensation because &#34;truthfully, I needed a paycheck.&#34;



The move to Seattle started awkwardly. Hood packed her Volvo in San Francisco and missed her first day after forgetting Oregon sat between California and Washington. More than two decades later, Hood is still at Microsoft.



&#34;What started as just a job that frankly didn’t sound that cool,&#34; Hood said, &#34;turned into the opportunity of a lifetime in a city that I now consider home.&#34;



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<h2>The Part Of Duke That Stayed With Her </h2>



Hood said Duke’s most important lesson was not her economics degree.



It was learning how to ask questions, stay curious and listen to people who saw things differently. She said the relationships she built there also changed the course of her life, from classmates who became close friends to her husband, Max, from the class of 1993.



Hood urged graduates to invest in those relationships, keep showing up and trust that one imperfect step would not define the whole path.



&#34;And if you ever forget about an entire state and miss your first job, you’re going to be just fine,&#34; she said.



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Image: Shutterstock

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Microsoft CFO Amy Hood shared her career journey at Duke University's commencement, highlighting that 'your next step doesn’t have to be a perfect one.' After switching from biology to economics and working at Goldman Sachs, she briefly worked at Alcatraz before joining Microsoft. Despite initial rejections and a missed first day, she found success, earning $29.5M in compensation. She urged graduates to stay curious, value relationships, and embrace imperfect opportunities.

- Microsoft CFO Amy Hood shared her unconventional career journey during a commencement speech at Duke University.  
- She emphasized that early career decisions do not have to be perfect, encouraging graduates to stay curious and build meaningful relationships.  
- Hood concluded by highlighting how her practical choices led her to Microsoft, illustrating that unexpected paths can lead to fulfilling opportunities.

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Microsoft CFO Amy Hood Went From Quitting An Alcatraz Job After One Day To Earning $29.5M — 'Your Next Step Doesn't Have To Be A Perfect One'