iso jobs recs reflections

I feel so much happiness and surprise at the success of today’s first iso job recs. I woke up this morning with a ton of anxiety: what if people come with expectations we can’t meet? What if people come and call us out for doing something wrong? What if something happens during the event and we don’t handle it well? The best case scenario in my mind was no one attends, and Amy, me, and our partners just hang out talking about other ideas for What’s in Your Briefcase. Shout out to my partner for making me listen to a meditation that helped me refocus my thoughts away from the bigness of today, and focus on how it would feel to show up for my community. 

And like, 20ish folks came! You came out, you shared your experiences, your questions, your worries about the workplace, about how to find work, about how to know when an opportunity isn’t right for you, about how to speak up about tough things like transphobia. I feel so deeply honored to have been part of a space where you could feel safe enough to be vulnerable and ask these big, important questions. 

I did a lot of listening  and taking notes, because one of our big hopes with today’s event was to learn what the community needed, rather than to give y’all what we thought you might want. When Amy and I first began talking about the website in particular, we had discussed the types of resources we could share, ways we could structure it that spoke to the experiences of the workforce, etc.,  but nothing really made sense. We spent a whole day at a coffee shop once, wondering: how could we build a website using Brene Brown’s Atlas of the Heart as a structure? Luckily, we did not end up doing that, although I will always recommend her books to anyone considering leadership roles. 

Instead, what we heard the most from today’s session was: Where do I look for jobs? When I’m looking for work that builds on skills I already have, how do I know what the job might be called? How do I ask questions during interviews that give me a clear sense of the work culture at an organization? Can AI help me in my job search, and what do I need to be conscious of when using tools like ChatGPT? Amy and I have heard these questions, and you’ll start to see some additions to the website and in the blog content that reflects these needs. 

I also want to acknowledge that someone showed up today and was understandably apprehensive about joining the larger discussion because they didn’t see themselves represented in the space. We know that the workplace already comes with many stressors and challenges for folks who do not identify as straight, white, man or male or masculine presenting, of a certain class status, able-bodied and neurotypical. We also know that we have had certain advantages that, at times, have made our own challenges in the workplace easier to manage. For any live WIYB events, please know you can always tap on both Amy’s and my shoulder and we will ask: what can we do to make this space one you feel invited to join? Today, it was standing off to the side and chatting. At a future event, it could be something else. Our mission is to support you in your career journey, so please let us know how we can help. 

I’m so deeply grateful for holding space with y’all today. This is the part of the work I love: bringing folks together so we can help ourselves create the world we want to live and work in. And if you weren’t able to join today, don’t worry! We’re already talking through when to hold the next iso job recs. 

Wishing you a peaceful start to your week-

Rachel