WiMLDS NYC + Cider Personal Branding Workshop
The personal branding event in partnership with Cider on Jan 20th allowed attendees to connect with recruiters and coaches from different companies about how to improve their personal brand. Five guests were briefly introduced, Will Murphy gave a short talk about the changes he has seen in the past three years in the hiring market, and then everyone rotated through breakout rooms to workshop elevator pitches.
The event started with the Co-Founder & CEO of Cider, Eleanne Hattis Kurgan, introducing the guests and discussing Cider’s mission to help companies find good candidates through more holistic evaluation. The guests included:
- Will Murphy: Head of DEI, Amgen R&D
- David “Gonzo” Gonzalez: Director of Customer & Product Experience, DataRobot
- Patsy Flores: Senior Technical Recruiter, Workling
- Liliya Frye: Director of QA Engineering, LeagueApps
- Luna Marrero: Technical Recruiter, Google
Guest Speaker: Will Murphy
“Culture eats strategy for lunch”
Will Murphy spoke about how the shift to remote work over the last two years has changed the nature of how companies work and how they are targeting talent. It is now a job-seekers’ market. Companies are finding that along with having more remote employees, they also benefit from hiring for soft skills and allowing new hires to acquire “hard skills” on the job. He emphasized that a good “elevator pitch” is critical, and can help convey those soft skills. It is a good way for candidates to describe how they would fit into and shape the culture of a company, which has also become a consideration for many companies in the hiring process.
Will talked about his own efforts to expand the tech team at Amgen over the last 18 months, and how the mission and culture there have been an asset in selling the company to job seekers.
Workshops
Afterwards, attendees broke out into rooms with the guests and discussed general branding as a candidate. Some of the tips they received are listed below:
- Be more active in online communities — publish articles, participate in discussions on LinkedIn, attend Meetups.
- Differentiate yourself from the competition by infusing personality into the first part of your resume. Articulate your personal values and be sure to cover the “why” and “how” in addition to the “what” that resumes traditionally focus on.
- If you are late career, consider mentoring — it gives you not only the ability to help someone else in your field, but also to find out about organizations and make new connections!
- Contribute to open source software if you have any that you feel strongly about and use — again, it allows you to make connections, showcase your abilities, and keep up with current trends.
- If you are looking to get a job at a specific company, check out the current employees’ backgrounds — many companies are more concerned about soft skills than having used specific technologies, and want someone who is willing to learn.
Conclusion
This successful meetup brought together members of the WiMLDS & Cider community, and left attendees with takeaways they can implement in their job search and day-to-day work. Big thank you to Cider, our guest speaker Will Murphy, our recruiters and coaches, and all attendees!
Additional Information
Cider is a new platform that enables companies to discover hidden, qualified talent, close skill gaps, and improve diversity. With a wider aperture for considering candidates, Cider’s tech expands company talent pools, automating & scaling a de-biased lens.
~WiMLDS NYC Team
You may connect with us through:
▸☎️ Meetup
