Katherine Metzo, Author at The Anthropology Career Readiness Network

About Katherine Metzo (Edit profile)

Katherine Metzo has worked in academia, grassroots policy, market research, and design. Her obsession with the craft of ethnography is the thread that has followed her in each of these spaces, which is really about understanding how to find the relevant answers to both stated and unspoken questions and framing findings in ways that engage a variety of audiences and illuminate fundamental aspects of the human condition. She loves mentoring others in finding their path in using the anthropological worldview in the day-to-day of their profession, regardless of where that might be, physically, technically, or philosophically.

How does my work as an enterprise ethnographer boost my company’s business success?

Anthropologists may say, “It’s too bad you don’t get to use your anthropology anymore” when I talk about working at a big box retailer. But nothing could be further from the truth. Business anthropology has taken software development in-house to build less costly technology solutions, including “enterprise” software. In 2019, I landed in the enterprise software space of a major US retailer. I had nearly given up on applying through job seeker websites, but the hiring manager favored ethnography—based on his previous experience. As the first ethnographer hired within the organization, I was a bit of an oddity. I had already [...]