This is a transcript of a YouTube interview (April 1, 2024) where Madeline Mann interviews Amy about Amy’s career transition. Amy left an eight-year role in education, moved to Colorado, and shifted into semiconductor tech after completing a career program. The program helped her clarify job values, craft a compelling career story, and practice interviews; she reports successful outcomes including a strong job offer and relocation.
Chapters
Amy, thank you so much for joining us.
So great to be here.
Amy, take us back in time before you and I met. Where were you in your career? What was your situation? What was going on in your job search?
Before I joined, I had been at the same place for eight years. Clearly, I enjoyed it. I stayed there for eight years. I enjoyed my job. But it was just time to move on. You know, you just get to a point where you've done everything you can do in that position, and it's really time to move on and just take that next step in your career. So I was starting at square one. I was starting, like, pulling out my resume and starting at square one again. Starting at square one of how, how do I even network, how do I make connections, how do I apply for a job? So it's just kind of starting over.
You had a few other obstacles, right? You had. You obviously were like, okay, it's been a long time since. Since I've job searched, but what else do you feel like were some of the things that made your job search maybe especially challenging just from your perspective?
So I decided that I wanted to move to another state, and the state I chose was Colorado. I was in education at the time, and I wanted to move into tech. So that was also a leap. I had done tech a long time ago, maybe, you know, 20 years ago, and to get back into tech from education was also a leap. So not only moving locations itself, but industry.
When you got into the program, what were some of the major impacts you saw, the changes to your approach, things that really, really made the big difference for you?
I would say there's three main things. One of them is you start the program by having people research what do you actually value in a job. And that just took forever because you're just starting from scratch. You want to make sure you get it right. What do I value in a job? Is it the money? Is it the career leap? Is it social services or doing something for the environment? Whatever your own personal passion is, just making sure that you stick with that and don't just settle for a job outside of your passion. The other one was the glory in your story. Just being able to articulate what I had accomplished in a way that other people could relate to, that people were interested in listening to was important to me. That was something I really learned. And then finally, the interview practice itself. So you're part of a group, and every single person in the group is willing to practice interviews or look at your resume or whatever you need to do. People are just very giving, and it's a lot of give and take. You don't just get Madeline, you get other coaches. You get accountability coaches and the group.
What breakthroughs did you experience when it came to interviewing?
Not everyone is great at interviewing. So the interviewers themselves. Right. So they're not 100% sure how to get out of you what they need. And I really use that skill because many times during the interview, they were not asking me the questions that I knew I needed to give them this story or give them this accomplishment, but they weren't asking about it. So being able to weave that in smoothly into the interview was such a gift.
What were your results?
I had great results. I got a great offer. I was able to move to a place where I didn't know anyone. After eight years at the same company, I moved from education to semiconductor tech, which I'm very happy about.
What would you say to those folks who are.
Who are kind of on the fence there? No one has a crystal ball, but it's entirely possible the recession is around the corner. I would say strike while the iron's hot. You know, this is your opportunity to pull it together, get your resume together, get this class together, and make sure you can really get a job before the door closes. That's just my opinion.
