The GenHERation^® 5 Questions series features our exclusive interviews with the most powerful women in the world to provide you with actionable advice on how to navigate your career path.

Pam Melroy is the NASA Deputy Administrator.

What do you know now that you wish you knew at the beginning of your career? 

I wish I had known how important it is to build a support system and network. I was afraid that asking for advice might make people think I couldn’t solve a problem on my own. Now, I wouldn’t make any important decision without consulting the best advisors.

Which high school or college class best prepared you for your professional career?  

In high school, it was European History. Wow, did I learn a lot about people and behavior from the stories and the history, which helped me understand geopolitics better. In college, without a doubt, it was my physics classes, which forced me into a different problem-solving mode than memorization, which was how I studied for most of my classes previously. Physics is more about analytical thinking.

What is the go-to question you ask interview candidates? 

Tell me about a time when you had a problem (disagreed with a supervisor, a strategy wasn’t working, etc.). What did you do and how did it turn out? I love this question because you get more insight into how people think and react to issues and what their core values and principles are.

What is the biggest risk you have taken? 

I think taking my current job. The stakes are high and not everything in my past prepared me for it. It didn’t scare me nearly enough!

What is your genius?

I’m sort of a jack of all trades, master of none. I used to think was a problem because I never could stand out at any one thing, which is what helps you succeed early in your career. Now, I see it helped me integrate across a lot of areas – not just technical areas, but also business and personal interactions to come up with better solutions to complex problems.

You can learn from more of the most powerful women in the world here.