“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” – Ida B. Wells As advocates on a mission to widen workplace diversity and inclusion initiatives, we’d be remiss not to acknowledge our place of privilege and firmly call our audience to action in the fight against systemic racism. Path Forward believes that every person’s voice and value is of equal importance. We therefore stand resolute…
Participant Spotlight: Neema Bollampally
Neema Bollampally had a varied career that took her from finance to non-profit management and corporate philanthropy. After taking a break to take care of her twins, Neema wanted to restart her career in tech. She talks about her returnship experience at LendingClub, how the skills she gained in multiple fields and her break have translated into her role as a technical program manager, and the importance of building a…
Participant Spotlight: Lindo Payumo
Lindo Payumo took a two-year break from his 20-year tech career to care for his mother-in-law. When he was ready to restart his career, Lindo completed a returnship at OSIsoft, where he now works full-time as a Product Support Engineer. He talks about his return to work experience, the importance of soft skills in product support, and how one of his customers got him featured in a company video. Returnship…
Five Ways to Connect and Grow Your Network Virtually
The official Path Forward networking motto is, “who you know is what you know.” Networking is a key part not just to landing a new job, but figuring out what job you’d like to do in the first place. Talking with friends, old colleagues, classmates, and acquaintances can broaden your perspective on what the job market looks like, what skills are in demand, and the different roles that exist in…
Our Favorite New Holiday: Mother’s Monday
Mother’s Day is fun and all — what with the “special” breakfast you cook for everyone else, the homemade gifts that inevitably involve glitter. But our team was excited to learn about an initiative aimed at creating a new holiday for moms — Mother’s Monday, this year on May 11. Mother’s Monday is an initiative launched by our friend Gayatri Agnew over at Walmart. The idea is simple: “At home…
Partner Spotlight: Trey Guinn, Cloudflare Hiring Manager
Trey Guinn followed a nontraditional path to his current career, which motivated him to take part in the returnship program as a hiring manager. He talks about his experience with the returnship program, where his first cohort of returnees is now, and the special qualities that caregivers returning to work have that other candidates often lack. Company: Cloudflare Role: Head of Solutions Engineering Tell us a little bit about yourself.…
Think your skills are outdated? Why COBOL programmers are suddenly in demand
One thing we hear, pretty frequently, is the idea that someone out of the workforce for many years must be “outdated” in terms of their skills. We hear this from returnees themselves. And we hear it, usually formed as a question, from some recruiters. This is especially true because of how many tech companies we work with, many of whom are focused on hiring engineers. If you haven’t worked in…
A Week in Path Forward: Connection in the Time of Coronavirus
There’s no use sugar coating it. The last few weeks have been hard. As we all struggle to adapt to this new “normal,” our list of worries seems to grow longer than our grocery lists. Yet, amid the many reminders for “social distancing,” Executive Director Tami Forman’s 10-year-old son opts for a modification of the phrase: this is a time of physical distancing, and social connection. For the Path Forward…
Path Forward’s 7 Tips for a Successful Video Interview
Video interviews were around long before the COVID-19 era, but for now nearly all companies are relying on phone and video to talk to job applicants. For individuals trying to rejoin the workforce after years away, video conferencing may be unfamiliar, adding stress to an already stressful situation. With that in mind, here is our advice for how to put your best (virtual) foot forward: 1) Find your space and…
The World Turned Upside Down
Yesterday morning suddenly feels like it was a week ago. Monday seems as if it happened back in 2019. It’s hard to get your bearings and figure out what to focus on, where to turn, what comes next? Funny story: my husband and I had tickets for Broadway on Saturday night. Broadway got shut down yesterday, so …. In light of what’s happening right now, a scuttled date night is…