Boly:Welch

Many months ago, as I contemplated next steps, I enrolled in the Boly:Welch Job Search 101 7-Day Challenge with Abby Engers, JD, SHRM-CP and Corbin C (15/10 stars would recommend, btw.) One of the exercises they gave was a "Know Yourself" mad libs to help participants generate a clear statement of what they were aiming for. Over the ensuing months, I pushed every opportunity through that lens. If it wasn’t a big strong yes, it was a hard pass. And then, one day, I was contacted by FloodGate Medical about a position that checked every single one of those boxes. Today, I am thrilled to share that I have joined the AbleNet, Inc. team as their new Director of Product Line Management. I will have the great honor of serving on the Global Assistive Technology team, something that my 20-year-ago-baby-SLP-using-BIGmacks-in-preschool-classrooms-self never would have dreamed possible. I want to thank Joe Volp for extending the offer to join his incredible marketing team. It’s been wonderful to meet Stephanie Paulson, Cindy Richardson, Hanna Larsson, Michael (Mike) Berendes, Anne Wolf, Paul Thompson, and several others, each of whom has made me feel so welcome during my first couple of weeks swimming in the deep end of the new job pool. I’m excited to begin this new adventure and for the opportunity to help individuals with disabilities reach their human potential. Onward!

This is the Q&A from a panel I was just on about resumes for entry-level folks or folks with nontraditional paths. ❓: What is something you see a lot on resumes that you would tell people to change? A: Ditch home addresses (bias around commutes and neighborhoods is real), references (so no one can call your boss before talking to you and so the ATS doesn't accidentally mix your phone number for theirs), photos (bias!), and objectives (replace with a profile if you must). Also, resume templates are the worst. And always save as a PDF (with your First Name Last Name Resume vs. Resume v. 22) so the formatting doesn't break between platforms and devices. ❓: What if I have a long gap? Do I address it? A: Yes - even including a line in your profile section or experience section (e.g. Caregiver - date - date) is enough. And if it's something like a medical condition you don't want to get into, you can always say something like Medical Sabbatical and leave it at that. Life happens! But if you don't address it, businesses, which are inherently risk-averse, assume the worst. ❓: What if my experience goes onto two pages? A: No problem! Just make sure you're using the second page effectively - it should go to at least the halfway point on the page and have relevant information vs. something like hobbies. Actually, try not to include hobbies on your resume (more bias!). ❓: Why do entry-level roles require 2-5 years? A: Yeah, this is an unfortunate holdover from the Great Recession, when there were 8 (over)qualified candidates for every role. However, even if you are an entry-level candidate without much work experience, you can count your significant volunteering experience, internships, customer-facing work, hobbies (if you organized or led in a significant way), etc. And it's all kind of relative - as a recruiter, I'd take a 3-month internship, a year of part-time relevant volunteering, and two summers of scooping ice cream as 2+ years of experience. ❓: How is AI affecting the job search? A: As of right now...it's making all the applications and resumes read exactly the same and a lot of the outreach to have those funny little boxes around them. From an ATS perspective, it's not screening out folks in a very sophisticated or reliable way - the human touch is still very much a factor. And I hate pre-recorded video interviews. When you can show me you aren't going to get a different rating if you wear glasses and have a bookshelf in your Zoom background (a real finding!!), then I might trust it. Happy to answer any other questions! Good luck out there!

Want to know the secret sauce to becoming one of my favorite clients? 👀 It's a combination of exhibiting great communication, boasting long-term tenure among employees, and -most importantly- knowing how to throw a fun BBQ. D.R. Horton checks all of the boxes! ✔️ The Lake Oswego branch hosted their summer BBQ this afternoon, where I reconnected with these four amazing women (my former candidates!) who have all joined the team since 2021. Rae, Ava, and Katie have already earned promotions from their tenure thus far, and Peyton just started with the team on Monday! Talk about impressive (and well-deserved) employee development. Christine, thank you for including me and Katie in your fun day of festivities today. Until next time! #PortlandJobs #Hiring #Jobseekers #WorkingWithRecruiters #WomenInConstruction #WomenInRealEstate 🌟🎉👷♀️🏡