Cynthia Belak

Vice President and Controller
Corporate Headquarters
Thousand Oaks, California USA

Length of Service

10 years

What I love most about my job at Teledyne?​

The people, the diversity of the businesses and various opportunities within the company that allowed me to continue to grow intellectually and personally. When I first joined Teledyne, I started out in one of the business segments. I was later given a chance to join Internal Audit where I was able to do something altogether different and because our Company has global presence, this gave me an opportunity to visit several of our sites which allowed me to gain an appreciation for our businesses, our products and our processes -- knowledge that extremely valuable to me in my current role.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out or making a career change?

Never pass up an opportunity to learn something different, even if it is outside your comfort zone. Earlier in my career I was uncomfortable in venturing into different roles, even when pursued to do so. I was stuck in the same function for about 10 years and consequently I was slow to progress in my career. Finally, I decided to take the risk on a position that was totally different and from then on, my career progression accelerated. The move showed flexibility and desire to add value. It also allowed me to expanded my network, gain exposure to management and one job position led to another. ​​​