Transcript
Stacey Delo
Okay, I’m going to go ahead and get it started here. Hello, and welcome to the Tuesday webinar series where we talk about what is it your turn to do, whether that’s going back to work to have a returnship. Like we’ll be talking about today, leveling up in your career. These webinars series are really for you. Today, we are focusing on the fabulous Return to Work Program that Fitch offers called credit path. And we have incredible members of their team joining us to talk through the program, tell us a little bit more about it. And then offer some really key interview skills to prepare yourself for in the process. And also to get the most out of the program. I’m Stacey Delo. Get going on our slides here. And along with these lovely ladies on this slide and Jordan, we represent our prey where we are a career resource for women returning to work or pivoting. Our mission is to stop sidelining women talent, and we do this through a variety of tools, one of which is our boutique job board, where you will find the Fitch credit PATH program listed, along with some really great new opportunities from Shopify. We’ve got some nonprofits on there, some sales training programs as well, please take a look and be sure to apply to those. Also, be sure to fill out your profile on our site so that we can know what jobs might be interesting to you, and match you to some of those. Today, we are shining a light on fiches credit PATH program, which we’ll hear more extensively about from Kerry and just a minute or two. This is a 10 week paid program in New York, Chicago, Frankfurt, and also London. It’s an exciting opportunity for people to reenter the workforce. And it’s a I’ll talk more about it in a second. But we have lots to say about this great program. Also at Après, we do host these webinars tomorrow, we’re actually partnering with path forward. And I will be talking about strategies for a career pivot on their platform. So be sure to check the link in the chat and join us there. If you have the time. It’s going to be a great session as well. And lastly, we do offer one on one coaching, which we’ll share some links about, and you can review on your own time. Let’s see. So I want to welcome Fitch and I’m going to turn it over to Carrie to introduce her team. But as we get started, I wanted to note that Fitch is really a pioneer in the Back to Work program space. We’ve been working with them since 2016. And they’ve hired many opera members along the way. Their program is very thoughtful and intentional and meant to really usher you back into the workforce and then really set you up for success. So that’s what we’ll be hearing about today. I know this in my heart because I’ve talked to their team so many times. They really really have put together a plan and even through COVID to move people back into the workforce with thought. So with that, I’d like to turn it over to Kerry Bruning. I’m going to walk through their slides carry as you speak, she’ll introduce her team. And then we’re going to move to kind of a panel session where we’ll turn off the slides and sort of talk more conversationally, and then Megan on our team is going to kind of round us out with her top five interview tips for you all, and we’ll have some q&a. This is really your chance to talk with their team and to hear from two alumni who’ve been through the program. So please put your thoughts together so that you can ask some good questions and take advantage of the time that you have with them here today. So Kerry, welcome. Kerry is head of talent programs for Fitch including credit path, and Kerry
, I’ll let you take it from here. Excellent. Thank
Kerry Bruning
you so much and it’s great to be here. And I’m joined today by my colleagues, Amina and Susanna who I will introduce further at the conclusion of this brief presentation as we go into the panel. Um, so you can go to the first page here. So quick, quick highlight on us. So I’ll formally introduce myself now. So I oversee our talent programs, including credit path and our other programs are featured for diversity initiatives, including advancing female talent internally, which is great and something I’m very passionate about. Credit path is also geared towards military veterans. It’s an initiative that we included last year in our credit path programs, you can proceed to the next slide. So who are we so many of you might be familiar with Fitch, but we are owned by the Hearst company. And Hearst is a great a complex media company. So if you’re not familiar with that, Hearst oversees our operations as a ratings company. And when we say ratings company you may also be familiar with some of our competitors. So s&p and Moody’s are also ratings companies. Fitch group oversees our Fitch Ratings company, Fitch Solutions, Fitch Learning and Fitch adventures. Next slide, please. So here’s a bit more detailed diving into each division, which within Fitch, but we can go on to the next slide. So we are a global company, with over 1500 analysts around the globe, our headquarters are in London. And what we like to call our second headquarters are in New York. With other locations, as you can see, globally, credit path, hires right now we’re looking at New York and Chicago for our US locations. But we do have offerings in San Francisco and Austin, that should they be of interest, we are absolutely here to talk those through and entertain those possibilities. Next page. So Paul Taylor is our CEO. As many of you may know, he is not only committed to these programs, but he is involved in these programs. He continues to challenge us as we develop and create these programs, especially disease returnships. As an EDA and Susanna may attest when you hear from them. Paul was very involved in our credit PATH program. Last year, he met with the participants and again, a strong believer in all that we do for the credit PATH program. Next slide, please. So here to talk to you a little bit about the actual program here. I’ll dive into some of the details and then I think you’ll find a lot of information that we’ll share in the panel very valuable as well. So credit path was created in 2017 as a way to bring returners back to the office. And for us, when we defined returners in 2017, it was primarily those who had taken a break to the race families, perhaps care for a sick parent, but had the experience. And in partnership with other companies, we had looked at the dynamics and thought, hey, we can do this to at Fitch, we have these great offerings, we have a global company, we have a training curriculum. And what we wanted to do was be a part of the returnship platform. So since 2017, we have participated in bringing returners back to the office. And as I had mentioned, we incorporated US military veterans last year. And our purpose here is to do what we you know, as returnships, to bring our talent in and train them, but also progress them quickly. We understand you’re not starting from scratch, this is not a campus program. But we do value the experience you have had in your previous roles and really want to help you accelerate and assimilate to Fitch. So within our program, the first three weeks are designed as a boot camp. And during that time, you are with your peers going through this together, you’re getting exposure to our senior leaders, including our CEO, as I had mentioned,
you’re going through a very fast paced curriculum on how we operate as Fitch, how we do business, what ratings are criterias and what credit is. So regardless of the path that we help you choose, we want to make sure you understand fully how we operate here at Fitch. Some of it may be not may not be relevant to the role that you’re in. But we think it’s very important that you’re getting all of that exposure upfront so that you understand that business globally as a whole. One of the important features again, that I want to reiterate is that you are doing this with a cohort, right so you have others that you’re going through this with last year we did this virtually, we don’t know what what the future looks like for us, but it worked out very well. And I did want to highlight that. Coming back to the office returning virtually is a challenge in itself. And this program was really well designed to ensure that you were not alone doing this credit half curriculum. The ultimate goal of the program after 10 weeks is really to assess your potential and the possibility of key Can you hear long term with a full time offer. So within those 10 weeks, you know, you’re working side by side with your manager, we’re making sure that you’re equipped to be successful here. And again, as Anita and Susannah will talk about their personal experiences, the goal is to hire you full time after those 10 weeks, it is a full paid, it is a paid program. And although we you know, sometimes use the word internship or you know, short term 10 week program, what we’re looking to do here is bring you on full time for those 10 weeks deep, go deep dive right into the business that you’ll be working with, and get that hands on experience, many through a project that there’ll be engaged with their team, but you will feel like a full time employee on that team committed. On top of the training that we offer in the bootcamp, you will be getting a lot of on the job experience learning, some things may feel very familiar to what you might have done in the past. But a lot has changed, I’m sure, right. So technology Excel, we ensure that you’re getting the training, to make sure that you feel that you’re properly prepared to be on the team. What I’d like to do now is I’m going to turn it over to my colleagues to talk about their experience, but first, some formal introduction. So Anita, first over to you.
Anita Lin
Hi, everyone. My name is Anita Lin. And I’m really excited to speak to you all about my experience returning back to work. Just a little bit about myself. I’m a native New Yorker. My background is in Debt Capital Markets. I had an investment banking career based out in Hong Kong, and I specialize mostly in high yield. And I also covered a lot of ratings advisory. In 2015, I decided to take a career break and move back to the US and start my family. So after staying at home raising my two boys I, it was seven years, a good lengthy break, and I decided to return back to work to restart my career and also to reinvent myself just outside of this identity of a stay at home mom that I held for so long. So I discovered fiches credit PATH program, I completed it and I started a full time, just recently at the end of February. And I am currently now an associate director with the global infrastructure and project finance group, also based in New York. And it’s been great so far. So I’m excited to talk to you guys more about it later. Thank you.
Kerry Bruning
Excellent. And Susanna over to you.
Suzana Iionita Reddet
Hi, everyone. Very excited to be here and to share our experience as a stay at home mom and returner. A little bit about myself. I’m originally from Romania, I grew up there. I moved to the States in 1997 to get an MBA from Cornell University. And after that I worked for 10 plus years in the financial industry, I was mostly in analytical roles with different private equity companies. And then I had my daughter and I decided to stay home. And I took a 12 year break. And when my daughter started to get a little bit older, and I started to have a little bit more time on my hands, you know, the idea of going back to work was very appealing. I’ve done a lot of volunteering and part time work while I was raising my daughter, but eventually, I decided that you know full time role in, in my in finance, what was what made sense for me and I was part of the return to work program that Fitch has, and it was just an amazing opportunity to refresh my technical knowledge, meet other returners and get a lot of career advice. And after I finished the credit PATH program, I got a full time offer. I joined Fitch about five weeks ago, and I am a credit rating analyst in the global infrastructure group.
Stacey Delo
Congratulations to both of you. I’m going to advance the slides one more time here. I think that was it on yours, Carrie. So I’m going to shift this to a little bit more of an intimate feel. I’m going to stop the share. If you have questions, please use the q&a box and then also in the chat, we will will send links and whatnot. It’s just hard for us to keep up with questions and there but please do put Your questions in the q&a. So I’m going to stop my share so that we can see everybody just a little bit better. That it’s so great to hear from people who have experienced programs like these. So I really want to give the audience a chance to learn a little bit more. I need to do you want to talk a bit about what drew you to a return to work program initially, just instead of, you know, jumping right back into the workforce?
Megan Strickland
Yeah, sure. Um, I think when I made that decision to return to work, I found the whole process just so daunting, because it just felt like a lifetime ago that I was a professional. And I felt like I felt like a bit outdated, you know, I had been away for so long. So I wasn’t really confident in my skill sets, or what I knew about the markets or technical skills. So I knew that traditional route of applying for a job would be very difficult. And I’ve also haven’t really kept in touch with my network of people that I used to know. So I knew that traditional path wasn’t right for me. So I’ve heard about these return to work programs through just conversations from my girlfriends that had these type of programs in their companies. And they were just like pushing it to me, because they knew that I had that desire to return back to work one day. And that’s how I stumbled upon Fitch. And I knew that like this type of program, it would just be a perfect way to, like get into it and have something that’s structured, as well as being in an environment where I didn’t have to explain my time away. And it would be very supportive type of, like, camaraderie, I guess that that’s what I seek. So that’s, that’s that was the not how how it was for me. And in terms of like, how lengthy that process was, I was very lucky that I was very short. I think, when I looked into Fitch, they just lifted that pause that they have for COVID. So I applied right away, and then I interviewed and got through it in like two weeks. So it was like a record pace. And I was so eager, and then I was excited that it was a fish. And it was something that was adjacent to what I was doing before. So I eagerly took took took the opportunity, in terms of what took the longest time for me to, to during the process was actually making that decision to return to work. And thereafter, like setting everything up at home, like all the childcare, the housekeeping. And just so that all those things are handled, then I could just make that time and mental space for myself to even like pursue this to work on my resume and like really commit myself. So that was how I stumbled upon him.
Stacey Delo
Yeah, I’ve thought so much since our prep call when you mentioned that it’s such a key component to returning to work to really take, take the steps to create the space for yourself to be able to think and participate and be active in the job search process. So I love that you brought that up. Now, I also think it’s so important to talk about the cohort that Carrie mentioned this as well, that you’re you’re not alone in this kind of return. You You aren’t just showing up to work one day as yourself. You’re there with a group of people who’s there to learn. Suzanna, how did you talk about your gap during your return to work process? And especially in interviews? How did you position it on the resume?
Suzana Iionita Reddet
So when, when I decided to go back to work, and I started to sort of mention it to everyone around me, everyone asked me the same three questions. Why are you going back to work? Why now? And what do you want to do? And it was interesting, because those are the questions that an employer will also ask you, so I had a lot of time, sort of practicing that those answers and also sort of reflecting, you know, thinking about why am I doing this? Why am I doing it now and what exactly do I want to do? Do I want to do exactly what I did before and and and then when it came down to actually interviewing. I thought of the 12 years that I spent at home as a time where maybe I not necessarily gain technical skills, but I did gain a lot of life skills that are basically workplace skills, right. I did a lot of volunteering, for instance, and everyone who’s volunteer knows, you know, you have to be incredibly entrepreneurial. You have to be very resourceful. You have to be self motivated, very independent. There’s no one telling you what to do. I And you have to get things done. And you have to be able to influence and motivate others without having direct authority over them. Right? So all these skills that you use, for instance, when you volunteer are those are workplace skills, and they’re very valuable to almost any employer, right? And others Another example is I did some part time teaching, right? Well, project management skills, being very organized, being able to read your audience, engage your audience, public speaking skills, ability to motivate others self motivated, right. And the biggest issue with teachers is motivation, you know, you get home after one at the end of the day, and you’re just, you know, so you have to go back next day. So things like that those I thought of those skills that I gained by, you know, doing all these other activities during my break is very valuable. And last, but not least, you know, I spent 12 years taking care of another human being and being charged in our household. And that is no small feat. I mean, I think there’s a certain confidence and maturity and responsibility that comes with caretaking. And that is very important. And I think it’s, it’s very valuable to show that in an interview that, yes, I am a responsible, mature, very confident person. And just because I didn’t gain technical skills in the last five years, I have other skills that are quite valuable, valuable.
Stacey Delo
Yeah, what what you’re saying, which is so important for people to hear and understand is that you you’ve thought about all of the value of what you had been doing during these 12 years. You recognize them as transferable skills, which they absolutely are. And then you stepped into that process, it sounds like with confidence, not not worried about those years away, but with carrying them forward as important and valuable to an employer. So do you all, let’s talk a little bit specifically about the Fitch program? And if there are, I’d love to hear from both of you on this if there are particular aspects of the training or the program that you found particularly valuable?
Megan Strickland
Um, I think I can opine on that, for Fitch. During the program, they really equipped us with this whole suite of technical coursework, and also some coursework on like soft skills that you need at the workplace. Those are very valuable. But what stood out to me was this one session we have at that third party who came in and helped us map our motivational drivers. It turns out be very accurate. We took a quiz, and we talked about it, and it’s just helped me understand what was my core motivation, and what would motivate me and finding fulfillment in embarking on a new career. And I think this is very important, because I don’t want to burn out I want to, like do this in the long term. So I was just going back to work after a long time, it was an important decision, I didn’t want to take it lightly. And I didn’t want to go back to just any job. So the session helped like frame things better for me in terms of assessing whether Fitch or this role this type of work would be a good fit for me and keeping me fulfilled and also just, again, preparing me mentally to be in the right headspace to commit. So that for me, that was the most valuable.
Stacey Delo
Suzanna, do you have anything to add there?
Suzana Iionita Reddet
Um, I mean, I think something that Kerry alluded to earlier. I mean, being in a cohort is invaluable. Because it’s a very it’s an unusual situation, right? You and it’s hard to relate to people who are already in the workforce, it’s hard to relate to, you know, my mommy friends who are deciding to stay home, I don’t want to you know, bore my husband with the details of my every day. And so, these 10 people who were in that cohort, they became some of my best friends and so, not only that, I could relate to them and they understood what I was going through, but also so many of them had such different experiences right that such a different backgrounds and you can see that you can come at this from very many different places. There was a very wide range of ages and and explore Your answers. And so that was quite valuable during the training. But then when we all went to our all different divisions, right, we kept in touch. And there were 10 points of view from inside Fitch right. And we all shared what we saw and what we learn. And I think it was so valuable because it helped me understand what Fitch is about, and how the culture is different from one group to another. And what makes sense for me, and you could compare and for me, the cohort was, was probably the most valuable part of the program.
Stacey Delo
Yeah, and one of the things that you mentioned earlier also was the space that the Return to Work Program provides to get up to speed on things that you might you mentioned outlook, when we talked earlier. Do you want to just talk a little bit about the that that piece of it, because there is technical training that comes along with this, but it’s the it was the time to kind of catch up?
Suzana Iionita Reddet
Yeah, so what I’m the what the program does is, you know, you have a lot of technical sessions, like Karen mentioned, with, you know, with training in capital markets and credit analysis and financial statement analysis. And we’ve had even some training that we were signed, that we could do on our own and Excel skills and computer skills. And as interns, we actually had access to all the resources within the company, which is absolutely amazing, right? I could call help desk and ask my questions. So it did feel like being a full time employee with full access to resources, but also getting a little bit of a break while actually catching up because I haven’t used Outlook in 12 years, and I don’t know exactly how to do something. So it was that combination of, you know, full access to resources with a bit of a break. So I’m a little rusty, that was quite valuable.
Stacey Delo
Yeah, absolutely. So let’s move on to a little bit of the of the interview process and some of the things that you prepared for Anita, is there. Let’s start with you. Is there a is there one interview question that you really prepared for or that you feel like others should, should take note of?
Megan Strickland
I think in terms of a question that I wish I prepare for more, while looking back, it would be just kind of asking yourself and also conveying it to the interviewers, which groups are like industries or sectors that you’re interested in. Because with fetch, I mean, Carrie can speak to this more later, there’s different opportunities to turn different groups and fetch and then within like, the analytical side, which Susannah IRA, and there’s different sectors, so it’d be great to kind of convey that interest and have like a compelling reasoning and story behind that, so that you will make the most out of your internship because you will be working with a specific group you’re assigned to, and the full time offer will likely come from that group. So it’s just productive on both ends.
Stacey Delo
Suzanna, do you have a question that you would like to tell others to prepare for?
Suzana Iionita Reddet
Um, yeah, it’s more of a more of a sort of a situation that I encountered in the interview process, where the interviewer asked me some technical questions, and I just didn’t know the answer. And certainly, it’s not a big deal. You, you know, you can always kind of gracefully wade out of a suit, you know, so you don’t know. But because of this particular situation, where you’re coming back to work, and you’re a little bit with a chip on your shoulder, because you haven’t done this in a long time, it can be a little unsettling. And I think what I wish I had done is I wish I, of course, this is going to come up, right? Of course, they’re going to ask you a question, and you’re not going to know the answer because you’ve been out of work for a long time. So just being prepared for that situation is very helpful, like preparing, how am I going to get out of it? What am I going to say? And then make sure that you’re not unsettled about that question, because it’s going to happen. And And last but not least important. Another round to the interview. You are and say, What do you think? What is your opinion about this and show enthusiasm for learning, right? Because that’s what that’s, that’s where you’re coming in, you’re coming in and you’re saying, I’m catching up on eager to learn, I want to know the answer. I want this, right. So that’s about how you can kind of turn, maybe not so bad situation into kind of put a good spin on it, but a
Stacey Delo
good spin on it a positive spin. I like that a lot. Both of you can probably address this as well. And then we’ll ask Carrie for some good interview tips. But do you feel like there’s anything that you did during the program? You were both hired? Full time afterward? Is there anything that you did during the program that you feel like, gave you that extra edge? To get you hired? How did you spend your time? I need to do you want to address it first?
Megan Strickland
Yeah, I think what I did was, I think it came easier to me because I’m naturally a very like people. person, I love socializing. So I did a lot of thought. And within my group, I think towards the end of the program, there were one or two weeks where we actually got to go into the office with our first time. And I just made sure to talk to everyone in my team, like every single person, I made it a point to have a coffee chat with them, whether it was like prior to those in, in office days, so that when we get in office, we already have like, establish like, some type of relationship beforehand. And then we can build on it and kind of through them, it was easy to get lunch with them, it was easy to get grab a drink after work. And like just learn more about the team learn more about the culture, what to expect and see whether you would fit in with this type of culture and this type of team. So I think that’s what I did. And I focused my efforts on that networking. For for you.
Stacey Delo
That’s for you. Smart. Suzanna, anything you did that?
Suzana Iionita Reddet
Um, I mean, I, I sort of treated the internship as an interview, right. And it might sound a little daunting, you know, 10 week interview, but I was interviewing them. And they were interviewing me, right? So we were looking for a mutual match. And I think doing an internship is just an amazing window into a company, right? You get to actually work there, meet all these people that you’re going to work with. And if you treat it like an interview, right? For 10 weeks, right, you are given an opportunity to actually show what you can do, right, you can show that you can contribute, you can show that you’re independent and mature, you can show what kind of colleague you’re going to be. And for me, the I tried to think of, okay, what do I have to offer compared to someone who’s been working there for a long time, or, you know, someone who didn’t take a career break? Again, the only thing I could come up with, and is that I’m very enthusiastic for work and for learning, right. And I felt that during the internship, I was so excited to get rid of my household chores and work on a memo. You know, and I think it’s different. I think if you’ve been doing memos for 25 years, opening is not that exciting. But for me, it was a change. So it was exciting. And I showed that that I want to work. I enjoy work, I’m enthusiastic for it. And I think that that was I think, I hope in the end what got me the job.
Megan Strickland
Yeah, Kerry, it’s
Stacey Delo
so great to hear from these two incredibly bright women. It’s, it’s such a reflection back, I believe, on the program. As I said at the start, you know, I know, having worked with you all and Jamie just the intentionality of the program and the thoughtfulness and that’s exactly what they’re reflecting back is intentionality and thoughtfulness that they they knew the value of what they were getting in the program with you and you know, it’s great for you all that you have them full time as well. Now, I wanted to turn it a little bit to you Carrie to talk about some interview tips. You know, you you lead talent programs across the company there have you know, a touch point essentially with all kinds of job seekers. You know, what, what are some? Is there You know, Miss, do you want to start with what you think are your favorite interview tips and we can talk a little bit about mistakes that you see people making?
Kerry Bruning
Oh, absolutely. And you know, I’ll tell her it towards the the credit PATH program and some of the, you know, the questions that I get asked of and the way the dialogue goes when we’re having these interviews. And I’ll start with one that I wouldn’t call it a mistake. It’s just, it’s one that I just want people in this audience to be mindful of is that oftentimes, when interviewing credit PIF candidates, they try to overcompensate for why they had a break and and how long it might have been. And it’s been over, it’s been longer than I had anticipated or expected. And what I want to assure you when you’re interviewing for roles, like credit path, or any returnship program, is that that’s why these programs are designed, right, so so we understand there’s a career break there, whether it was to raise a family care for a sick parent, military service. And we understand that so so for us, we you know, we’d like to hear your story, we’re open if you want to share your story. But too often, we heard people trying to just compensate for that break, and really just try to justify it and say they didn’t think it’d be as long as it was. And with that said, I just want to assure you that again, the design of this program is that we understand that we know there’s value. And what you did before taking a break. For many of you, you still pursued passions during your break that are definitely relevant to what we do. Here at Fitch, you kept your brain busy. So with that said, again, not to call it a mistake, but just something to be mindful of and don’t waste too much of your energy on justifying why you had that career break. So I definitely wanted to share that here. And then as far as other tips, so I wanted to answer this live. I know we received a question about the the process for matching with a specific group and Anita talked about this a little one thing, you know, that you should be prepared to answer during an interview is knowing what we do here at Fitch, where do you see yourself in the Fitch organization and that can be based off of what you did in the past based off of maybe something that you pursued in school or maybe a recent degree. And the reason I say that is because the great thing about this program is that it’s a very much a tailored program. So it’s not a one size fits all, everybody does the same role, everybody’s at the same level, we really take into account your career history, your passion, your degree, and what you want to do. So I’d say it’d be a long jump, if you only had experience in HR and you want to go into an analytical role, it’s harder of a sell there. So we definitely do take into account what you did previously. So this, I would say, this isn’t a program for you to say, okay, career switch, I want to do something brand new, we do look for some relevancy based on what you’ve done prior to your break. But with that said, Fitch is a you know, global organization with a lot of offerings, both on the analytical side, and also technology, which is an A group that we opened up credit path to last year, more so on the software engineering side. So if that’s of interest, if that’s something you’ve done in the past, you know, those are the types of things we should talk about in the interview process to help us direct you to where you might be best fit. And what your resume says to us might be different from what you want to do. So you know, you should be very clear, during the interview process and say, you know, I did XY and Z, I’d still like to pursue that, but really interested in this area of Fitch and then we can have that conversation if it’s realistic or not. Because again, we do want to set you up for success. You know, I said it before, it’s not a campus program. So we’re not starting from scratch, we want to take and value what you’ve done prior, and what you can bring into this role.
Stacey Delo
Did you see the question in the q&a about would an equity research and product development and marketing background mutual in mutual funds? It sounds like, be
Kerry Bruning
absolutely, absolutely. And I’d say you know that that’s a great background and bit diverse there in terms of, you know, the equity research and the marketing side, it would be about, you know, what areas specifically are you thinking of? And then those conversations would help us in the initial screening, think about who in the business can we get you in front of or maybe it’s an alumni of our program who had a similar path that we would connect you with? I did see the question also on health care and benefits. So during the 10 week program, you are not eligible for our benefits, including health care, and 401k. But should we hire you full time, you know, day one, you’re immediately eligible for our benefits. And you know, the company is very helpful with the resources there to make sure you’re equipped with all of that we would share with you in advance what those you know, offerings look like as far as health care and benefits to ensure that you know, any questions you have, you would get them properly answered before accepting a position.
Stacey Delo
Okay, great. Oh, what is? Do you have a most memorable interview and all of your interviewing time? You want to share?
Kerry Bruning
Sure. You know, I’d say what’s most memorable is when people make it You know, a little personal about why they’re looking to come back and why the right time is NOW and what they’ve done, you know, maybe on the side to pursue their continue their passion. So, you know, I remember speaking with a candidate who had a long career break over 15 years, and she was just passionate about what she was doing on the side for her school boards and all the help that she could put out there. And it was all truly, you know, efforts on her end that were pro bono call it that, and she was really just passionate, it was time for herself to invest in herself. She had questioned herself and the more we talked about it, the more she realized she was ready, you know, as long as she had the help, and the support and the peer group and to, you know, highlight what Anita said before things taken care of at home, she was ready to invest in herself. And I found that interview to be more of a personal conversation about why she was writing and then we focused on the what and the where, and what she can do based on what were her experience laid.
Stacey Delo
That’s such a nice, that’s so nice to do for someone and what a comfortable way, especially when applying to a returnship like this to be able to have that kind of conversation as the job seeker. Okay, so do you want I know, you already gave us a couple tips. But is there one interview question that everyone should prepare for in your mind?
Kerry Bruning
Sure, it’s because this is a unique role, and you’re not interviewing for a specific, you know, job requisition at Fitch, I do want to echo what I said earlier, is take a look at you know, fiches offering even on the general career site and try to visualize where you can see yourself, and Suzanne Anindita highlighted this as well, because, you know, we might be able to see you in a variety of places. But if you truly want to be in a specific position, maybe within public finance, be ready to talk about that. And and, and say, you know, here’s what I read on the website, here’s what I understand, you know, roles within Fitch look like and within the public finance group, be very articulate in terms of the area. Again, because we’re broad in the sense that we don’t want to, you know, place everyone in the same position, we understand that everyone is coming in with different backgrounds. But be prepared to talk about a specific area that you’re very most interested in, especially in that first HR screening, because then that helps us think about the business and the wares and the who of where you should go next if we were to pursue.
Stacey Delo
And before I hand it over to Megan, to do kind of our lightning round here. Do you care? Do you want to give just a quick update on the details? So you’re taking applications through June 30?
Kerry Bruning
Yes, of course. So we are actively recruiting now. We started our recruiting campaign just a few short weeks ago. And our ideally, we’d like to be complete with recruiting by the end of June, which helps us to prepare for onboarding, we have a firm start date of September 19. And when I say firm, you know, it’s an important date to note, because that’s when the three week training program starts upfront. So it’s important that our entire cohort starts together, goes to the training program together, you know, in person versus virtual, that is still to be determined again, last year, we were virtual, it worked out very well, ideally be great to have, you know, buckets of cohorts in different locations to go through the program together. But that’s still to be determined at this time. Go ahead.
Stacey Delo
If it is virtual, you still need to be in the physical locations near those offices, correct?
Kerry Bruning
Yes, that is the ideal is to not waste your time or the company’s time. Again, because the ideal is that you’ll be a part of the 10 week program, and then here with us in person. So Susanna, and Anita did the program virtually with us and then started in person, you know, at our New York offices. So it is important that you’re in those locations that we’re hiring for.
Megan Strickland
Okay. Okay, great.
Stacey Delo
Okay, was there anything else that you wanted to mention about the details or the deadline or anything like that? Now, so
Kerry Bruning
So I know you’ve shared our website, which has the applications, you know, fairly simple application where you can upload your resume a cover letter, just, you know, share your story with us, and then you’ll be, you know, contacted by our team, as far as any specific next steps. You know, we tried to move things along rather quickly. You know, that’s one thing that we commit to, and I think it’s great, you know, that the firm does that, to ensure that we get back to our applicants and we do pursue, the interview process does happen rather quickly and coordinate with your schedule, so it is pretty much a seamless process.
Stacey Delo
And it sounds like this would wrap early December, is that correct?
Kerry Bruning
Right. Right up until Thanksgiving is where it takes us thanksgiving. So November 23.
Megan Strickland
Okay, okay,
Stacey Delo
fantastic. Well, thank you all so much. Um, Megan’s going to give her kind of a brief overview just to help people get a little bit more prepared for that interview process. We will collect all of your valuable tips here to share with everybody but please stay on. And if you have any more thoughts based on what she offers, you’re, you know, chime in for sure. So Megan, do you want me to share the slide here? Okay, I think you’re me. Yeah,
Megan Strickland
that’d be great. Yeah, there we go. And thank you all for this is so helpful. And so wonderful. And I just think the, it’s such a great the returnship is such a great way to eat to, you know, re enter the workplace. Okay, so, our five key interview tips. So the first tip is, before the interview even starts, make sure you’ve done all of your research, know who you’re gonna be interviewing with know the key players in the organization, who’s the CEO, like Carrie just said, for fetch, who’s the CEO, who’s the CMO of you’re applying for a marketing role? Who are the really important people at the company? It’s great to know that before an interview, also, be familiar with any news that has come out? Did the company you’re interviewing for acquire another company? How is that going to impact this job? How is that going to impact the company and the challenges that you may be facing? Have there been any other recent events? Maybe they’ve moved their headquarters? Who are some of their biggest clients? Are these people that you’ve worked with in the past? If so, that would be a great thing to discuss in your interview? What is the company culture? A great way to find information about the company culture is to go on Glassdoor because employees previous employees will will write reviews on the company. And they’ll also discuss interviews. So if they went through an interview process at the company, they will sometimes say what interview questions they were asked how they answered them, what kind of feedback they received. So Glassdoor is a great place to get to do some of this research. And it’s helpful to do, obviously, you will know what the job description is as you prep your resume. But remember that a project manager may have a very different job description at different companies. So just make sure that you really understand what you’re interviewing for. Tip number two, prep for both standard and difficult interview questions. So have your answer to that. Tell me about yourself question. And what are your greatest strengths and weaknesses? And then also, some more difficult questions like if you’re interviewing for a technical role, as we previously discussed, make sure that you know, and you research those answers as well.
Develop your own list of questions. So at the end of an interview, oftentimes, the interviewer will say, Do you have any questions for us? And we’ve heard from recruiters here in the Bay Area, and all over the country that if you say, You know what, actually, no, I don’t have any questions for you. That either means that you haven’t done your research, or that you’re not really that invested. So make sure you have some good questions that can’t be answered from like, really quickly, looking at the company website. And another reason why this is so important is this is your chance to ask questions about the company and about the role, because you want to make sure that this is a good fit for you, too. So one of the questions that I really like, is, if you ask the person interviewing, what do you like most about working here? I like this question. Because if they stumble, if they like, can’t come up with a good answer, or if there’s any sort of tension, maybe that means they don’t really like working here. And so that’s good intel. So I like that question. Also, you know, what are some of the challenges that you the biggest challenges you’re facing in the next three to six months, just so that you can kind of get a sense for is, is this a very stressful environment? Are they really worried? Or do they have a handle on what’s coming, and if some of the biggest challenges and things that you can really help with, that’s also helpful to know? Okay, our fourth, Our fourth tip, virtual interview setup, so I’m not sure about New York, but I know that here in the Bay Area, a lot of companies have said that at least the first round through 2022 is going to be virtual. So it’s great to have a setup where you feel comfortable, you know that there will won’t be noise, a dog barking and a baby crying that you it’s ideally you’ll have a laptop and not a phone, make sure you have a comfortable chair. So just the virtual thing, at least for the first round is probably going to be around for a while. So make sure you have a good comfortable virtual interview setup. And lastly, send a thank you email to the people that you’ve interviewed with within 24 hours. And this doesn’t have to be long just acknowledging thank you to them for their thank them for their time if there’s anything specific that you discussed during the interview. Have them, we’ve that and then finish with you think you look forward to hearing from them and you think you can add tremendous value as a project manager at their company. And then our bonus tip confidence is really one of the most important thing. So whatever you need to do before your interviewer to get a boost of confidence, maybe you need to, you know, call your best friend, or maybe you need to do some power poses or drink your favorite smoothie, or whatever it is to maybe take some deep breaths before you start talking. Confidence is really important. And even if you stepped out the workplace, like you’ve done amazing things. So bring all that competence with you to your interview, because that’s a crucial piece.
Stacey Delo
I love that I’m gonna have to use that drink your favorite smoothie. But it’s really true. And especially when you’re remote. You know, when you’re in person, when you’re in person. Talking and meeting with somebody, the energy is a lot different. And you have to really work via video to make sure that you bring the energy when you’re talking. does all of that did all of that ring true for you all. Anita Susanna? Carrie, you feel like those were helpful. How what did you interview virtually? Anita and Susanna was it?
Megan Strickland
Yeah, it was virtually. And yeah, I definitely had to practice like just staring at where to look like try not to look away like I’m still struggling with it is it is weird, right? And I’m not used to like looking at a screen for so long. And you know, during the program, if it’s virtual with a lot of screen time. So it’s kind of like getting used to that and working out a routine where you know, to take breaks and little things like that helps. Yeah. Okay, well, I
Stacey Delo
think we’ve covered everything. There may be some questions in the chat. Hopefully you all have kind of looked through that area as well. We will be following up with a recording of this. And Megan, thank you for that. I don’t think I said official. Thank you. I think those are all excellent, really quick tips for anybody who’s in interview mode. And all of the valuable information that we got today from everyone. Thank you so much, Susanna, and Anita, it was so nice to meet you. And congratulations again, on the program and getting hired. I think it’s just so helpful for people to hear from folks like you who have who have completed a program like this successfully. Carrie, thank you also for your wisdom and sharing all the details of the program. Please, I encourage everyone on this call to apply or to share this session and the application with folks that you know that might be returning to work and that this could be a good fit for. It’s an excellent program. Thank you all so much, and we look forward to staying in touch.
Megan Strickland
Thanks, everyone. Thank you. Hi. Thank you
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
