GROW from challenges
Liz Peters, 2014 OM&IS alumnus
Business Systems Analyst, AbbVie, North Chicago, IL
Hometown: Streamwood, IL
Quick Career Bio
After graduation, I began my career
at AbbVie in a two year development
program, rotating through three diverse
divisions and job functions in AbbVie’s IT
Organization. My first rotation included
the implementation of a reporting
tool that generates annual reports
to be submitted to the government.
My second rotation included the
implementation of a Patient Support
Program for a new drug in the Latin
America (LATAM) and Japan and AsiaPacific (JAPAC) Regions, respectively.
During this rotation I was able to
travel to Italy, Taiwan and Malaysia.
How do you continue to learn
now that you’ve graduated?
The first year out of college
was an entire year of learning for
me. I’ve learned a lot about the industry
and my company. I’ve
worked with different
personalities and have
grown my skills by listening
to what others have had
to say. I try to network
What do you want to do with the
education you received at NIU?
I hope to become a senior leader
within a large organization one day.
This is a career goal that I developed
in college. NIU’s College of Business
helped me to get leadership experience,
whether that experience was in the
classroom or in an extracurricular
activity. By having leadership
experience, I was able to get my foot
in the door at a company that focuses
on developing young professionals.
Share something you learned
about yourself at NIU.
When I started at NIU, I had no
clue that I wanted a career as an
IT professional. NIU’s College of
Business helped me explore different
opportunities in the business world
until I found the major that was right
for me. Now I love working in IT.
Tell us your “WHY?”
On a personal note, when I was
16 years old, my family environment
changed. I was forced to grow up at
a young age and very quickly. This
made me realize that I am in charge of
my life and only my actions affect my
future. I was able to take a negative
situation and use it to fuel my desire
to build a successful life for myself.
It helped me realize the kind of life I
want for myself and fuels me every
day to be a better person and to fight
for what I want. I feel like I saw that
same type of message of overcoming
adversity reinforced during my four
years at NIU. I had a chance to meet
so many inspiring women (most of
them NIU alumni) who have helped
shape the business world to be more
accepting of women in leadership
positions. If it wasn’t for women like
them, I can’t imagine where I would
be in my career today. Meeting those
women and hearing how they overcame
significant challenges has truly inspired
me to keep fighting for women in the
workplace so that one day women
will be viewed as equal partners.
NIU Business…Where the Classroom Meets the Business World | 2
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as much as possible to learn about
others’ experiences and to help focus
in on areas I would like to learn more
about. My company does a great
job of offering training classes that
I try to attend when my schedule
allows. I also plan on going back to
school soon to obtain a Master of
Business Administration. (Side note:
my favorite learning activity to date
was an improv session I did with
Second City. It was extremely eye
opening…every exercise we did was
applicable to the business world.)