I'm Emily Wen. I had about five years of work experience before going to Penn for my master's in Behavioral and Decision Sciences. Most recently, I was at Reddit as the company's first Applied Behavioral Scientist. I did a three-month internship and then about seven-months full-time. Right now, I am looking for a new behavioral science or behavioral research role.
Could you tell me more about how you apply for this role?
I applied for the internship in the fall of 2020, which was when I started the program at Penn. I hadn't moved to Philadelphia yet, since classes were all virtual. I remember feeling very disconnected from the program. I felt like students were networking and going to events, and I just felt very removed. I remember searching online one afternoon "behavioral science group Bay Area." I wanted to see if there were other behavioral scientists near me that I could speak to and learn from. And actually the intern role came up on Indeed or on Google. Reddit was looking for an intern to try to bring behavioral science to the company. I sent in my resume and there were a few behavioral science questions that I had to answer, like a little prompt to see how I would approach a behavioral problem. I applied in October and I found out in January that I got the internship for the following summer. I did the internship summer of 2021, and then I received a return offer to join full-time upon graduation. And, I started full-time at Reddit June of 2022.
When you came back for the full time position, did you have to apply again?
No, I didn't have to apply again. I think if you go through a formal corporate internship program, you should know by the end of your internship if you’re receiving a return offer, and my understanding is that you shouldn’t have to interview again.
How did you get into behavioral science?
I studied psychology in my undergrad and I knew I wanted some industry experience before considering going back to school. I started my career in recruiting, but was beginning to feel like I had outgrown that role, so I started looking for master’s programs. I was interested in applying to Penn and moving to Philadelphia, so I just went through their website of all their grad programs. When I saw behavioral and decision sciences, it sounded like psychology with more of an applied focus. I think that was something that was really important to me because I knew that I wanted to have some different industry experience. I had always thought about doing a PhD, but it's such a big undertaking that I wanted to see if I could get a more engaging job first. At the time, I was really just looking to have a more interesting 9 to 5 and I thought, "OK, maybe if I do something with an applied industry focus, it would help me pivot jobs," which I think it did.
How do you approach incorporating behavioral insights into your work?
I was the only behavioral scientist at Reddit, meaning I had a lot of independence. Primarily, I was working on projects related to improving the new user experience. On the side, I was working on trust and safety initiatives, like how to prevent harassment and how to create more equitable communities on the subreddits.
My work fell into two buckets. First was designing social science experiments and running those. And the second was doing exploratory research: writing literature reviews, creating hypotheses, and using the data that already existed from users to generate analysis. My role was less about bringing behavior change frameworks. Maybe that would have been a fun future state if I had the opportunity to continue. But for the time being, because behavioral science was new, I was focused more on introducing what behavioral science is and how it could help. And then working as closely as I could with folks to start to infuse behavioral science ideas into their work.
How are behavioral sciences perceived by stakeholders within your organization?
A lot of people across the company were interested in behavioral science, and they were curious about it. However, it was challenging when processes and organizations were already so defined to figure out how to implement it. I had people who wanted to partner with me, but then we had to figure out how to actually “do” behavioral science.
It was a challenge to bring a new discipline and stand up a new program in an organization. It takes a lot of time and resources to build out a whole team. There were people across the org who were really interested, so I just needed to work with them closely and start bringing information to them. It was tough being a team of one and bringing in new concepts, but I'm glad that I had the opportunity to try.
How do you stay updated with research and new insights in behavioral science?
Right now, I'm working on some independent research. At Penn, I took an applied research seminar for my capstone. The study we ran had promising results, and we got connected with a professor who was interested in helping us get the work published. Doing that research keeps me informed about what's going on in the industry.
I also read newsletters, such as Behavioral Scientist, and go to the Action Design Network monthly meetings, which are helpful to hear how people are keeping up to date with one another. It's also good because I do feel like people are open to sharing their challenges. I think it's kind of nice to be able to share that experience with people.
Are there any topics or areas of behavioral science that you are particularly interested in?
If I were to pick one, it would probably be questions about internet behavior, such as what's the relationship between how people behave online versus in real life? I'd always been interested in this binary of online versus offline: why do some people post their whole life on Facebook but don't replicate that behavior in real life if you were to meet them? Maybe something along those lines.
What is your aspiration?
At Reddit, part of what I liked was using it as a place to study people's behaviors, as in using the platform as a field to conduct research in. I'm in this place now where I wonder, “is it enough for me to study people's behaviors or do I actually want to design interventions to change people's behaviors?”
What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who started their career, based on either your personal or professional experience?
Just to keep growing. I do really believe that industries are changing and evolving and are receptive to new ideas. After my experience at Reddit, seeing how long it took to get a foothold, organizational changes take a lot of time. I think my advice just is to find opportunities that allow you to grow and make progress.
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This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Emily and I had this chat on 03/07/2023.
You can connect with her on her Linkedin
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