This week Off The Cuff returns to celebrate our veterans with an interview with Steve Chang, Founder of the Veteran Transition Accelerator Headlamp. Steve is a retired Special Forces Officer and graduate of The Wharton School of Business where he received his MBA. In this episode, Christina and Steve unpack the huge variety of skills and qualifications that veterans bring to the job market. Steve explains how Headlamp intersects with the Department of Defense’s Skillbridge program and what makes them unique within the accelerator space. 

Headlamp believes that humans are more important than hardware and that optimizing human potential is the most pressing issue to solve for our nation. They abhor the wasting of talent and do this by being fanatical about eliminating any friction that gets in the way of optimizing talent. Their current focus is on finding transitioning veterans the right job building a veteran transition accelerator consisting of a community of communities, access to opportunity, and last-mile training. Their product is Skillbridge-as-a-Service, to connect veterans and employers in Headlamp Fellowships and they invite all veterans to join the platform.

Veterans, especially junior enlisted, are undervalued by the workforce for many reasons. And while veterans have good access to resources and to effective expert advice to call attention to their value, Headlamp thinks that the problem is structural and that these solutions can only “treat the symptoms”. Headlamp believes that addressing the structural elements of Information Asymmetry and Friction will magnify the impact of existing resources.

If you or your company are interested in how Headlamp can provide top-level candidates for your business please feel free to reach out to Steve at steve@myheadlamp.com. Thanks for taking the time to listen to the pod and in doing so supporting both our retired and active service veterans who are serving all over the world to keep us safe!

Topics Include:

• Steve’s Experience In the Armed Forces
• The Current Job Market For Veterans
• Unpacking and Understanding the Skillbridge Program
• Why Veterans Make Such Incredible Job Candidates
• How Headlamp Is Equipping Veterans For Their Future

Connect with Steve & Headlamp:

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SSi People’s Job Board 

Produced by: Social Chameleon

In this special addition of Off The Cuff with SSi People I was delighted to welcome back Amanda Marciniak to celebrate her being honored as one of SIA’s (Staffing Industry Analysts’) 40 Under 40 Honorees. As the director of learning and development for SSi People, Amanda has a thoughtful and intentional way of teaching and coaching. A lifelong learner herself, she continually asks, “What can I give to others to help them grow and be successful?” Her contagious energy draws others in, and she is most passionate about watching those she has hired and trained move up in their own careers.

In her first year with SSi People, Amanda revamped the company’s training program and updated it to four weeks from six, enabling new employees to reach productivity 33% sooner. She also implemented a learning management system that provides employee access to development-focused material at any time, and she tripled the amount of content available. In addition, Amanda led the migration of a new applicant tracking system, increasing the company’s capabilities to view, report, analyze and utilize data more effectively.

Amanda’s goal is to leave a department or company better than she found it by building structure in a flexible way that enables us to grow and thrive well into the future. In fact, at a prior employer, she created and built a recruiter and sales training program and integrated its technology tools to build a comprehensive tech stack.

In this conversation we discuss the state of the staff industry while diving into the emerging trends in both technology and relationship building. Amanda shares her thoughts on how the industry is evolving and what it's going to take to stay ahead of the competition while still delivering the human component that is so essential to the work that we do at SSi People.

Topics Include:

• The 2023 SIA 40 Under 40 Honorees
• Amanda’s Journey with SSi People
• The Current State of The Staffing Industry 
• How Technology is Affecting The Industry 
• The Importance of Maintaining Personal Connections

The SIA 40 Under 40 

Connect with Amanda:

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SSi People

Connect with SSi People:

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SSi People’s Job Board

This week Off The Cuff returns for a delightful and inspiring conversation with Rocki Howard about training and equipping women of color for modern, higher-paying careers in tech, administration, HR, and more. Rocki is committed to helping women remain active in the workforce at every stage of their journey​​. She has spent 20-plus years in the human resource and talent acquisition space and is a firm believer in the power of helping people get jobs, in a culture where they are free to be themselves and change their lives. This belief has driven her career creating work cultures that allow companies to hire and retain the best talent.

Currently, Rocki is the Chief Equity and Impact Officer at The Mom Project, helping to power the future of work one mom at a time. The Mom Project believes in the power of moms, and that diverse, talented, and committed moms are a force to be reckoned with. They believe that parenting skills sharpen business skills and know that when mom thrives, families thrive, business thrives, society thrives...and things change for the better.

In this episode, Christina and Rocki discuss their passion for diverse workplaces while exploring THE RISE SCHOLARSHIP, a program committed to accelerating equity for moms and women of color by providing access to upskill tech certifications while harnessing the power of community and support - in six months or less, and at no cost to participants! Rocki points out the array of benefits that this program is offering while illustrating some of the perks and advantages that businesses and organizations see when investing in RISE. This is a truly inspiring conversation for women from all walks of life and a reminder of the life-changing power of equitable employment for women and moms.

Topics Include: 

• Opportunities For Women of Color In Today's Workforce
• The Empowerment That Comes with Proper Training
• How The Modern Workplace Is Transforming
• The Life-Changing Power of The Rise Scholarship
• How Investing In Rise Could Benefit Your Business

To learn more about how to Partner with RISE, message Rocki Howard on LinkedIn or email her directly at rocki.howard@themomproject.com.

Connect with Rocki:

Linkedin

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Twitter

Connect with SSi People:

LinkedIn

Facebook

Instagram

SSi People’s Job Board